There is created a restricted account within the general fund, to be designated as the "Salt Lake City open space lands fund" ("fund"). The fund shall be accounted for separately within the general fund and shall be used exclusively to acquire, preserve, protect and maintain open space lands. No expenditures shall be made from the fund without prior approval of the city council.
A. Deposits: There shall be deposited into the fund all monies received by the city, regardless of source, together with all interest or other earnings thereon, that are dedicated and restricted to the acquisition, protection and maintenance of open space lands including, but not limited to, the following:
1. Grants, bond proceeds, loan repayments, bonuses, entitlements, mitigation fees, forfeitures, donations, redevelopment tax increment income, and all other monies dedicated to the acquisition and maintenance of open space lands received by the city from federal, state, or local governments;
2. Monies appropriated to the fund by the city council;
3. Contributions made specifically for this purpose from other public or private sources;
4. Any amounts in the city's land-open space matching account or the open space land trust account; and
5. Subject to any restrictions to the contrary in bond documents, any proceeds or revenue from the sale or transfer of open space land shall be deposited to the fund. However, any proceeds or revenue from the sale or transfer of properties that are assets of an enterprise fund, shall be deposited in a surplus property account within that enterprise fund's capital improvements account.
B. Investments: The monies in the fund shall be invested by the city treasurer in accordance with the usual procedures for such special accounts. All interest or other earnings derived from fund monies shall be deposited in the fund.
C. Expenditures: Expenditures from the fund shall be used for the sole purpose of acquisition or protection of open space lands. The appropriation of any amounts from the fund for the acquisition of land shall be conditioned upon granting a restrictive covenant or conservation easement in favor of a public entity or nonprofit land conservation entity, in a form sufficient to ensure that any land acquired shall be protected and preserved as open space in perpetuity.
D. Nonprogram Projects: Monies from the fund may be used to partner in, or contribute to, open space land protection projects involving lands, conservation easements, or other interests in open space lands where the city will be a funding participant only, or where lands will be owned and managed by an entity other than the city. However, in any such case: 1) the open space land interest being protected must meet the definition of "open space land" set forth in this chapter; and 2) the city shall retain a permanent and nonrevocable reversionary or other backup interest in the land, conservation easement, or other interest in the land that enables the city to manage such interest as part of the open space lands program in the event the administering entity ceases to exist or fails to properly administer the open space land concerned.
E. Funding Award Cycle: Disbursements from the fund for open space lands projects shall be made by the mayor, after considering the recommendations of the board and the prior approval of a majority vote of the city council on an annual, semiannual or other funding cycle as the city council determines appropriate in consultation with the board. (Ord. 52-15, 2015)