diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 48fb4d302..fc04f739c 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -53,14 +53,14 @@ def get_package_name(name):
         'celery~=5.0',
         'channels>=2.0',
         'Django>=3.2,!=4.0.*,<4.3',
-        'django-ajax-selects~=2.2',
+        'django-ajax-selects~=2.1',  # publish error, see: https://github.com/crucialfelix/django-ajax-selects/issues/306
         'django-ical~=1.7',
         'django-mptt~=0.10',
         'django-paypal~=1.1',
         'django-post-office~=3.2',
         'django-timezone-field>=3.1,<7.0',
         'djangorestframework~=3.9',
-        'python-dateutil~=2.8.1',  # TODO: remove when 3.11 is oldest supported version
+        'python-dateutil~=2.8.1;python_version<"3.11"',
         'requests>=2.27.1,<2.32.0',
     ],
     python_requires='>=3.7, <3.12',
diff --git a/tests/apiv2/test_donations.py b/tests/apiv2/test_donations.py
index ad81fa241..91788a3a7 100644
--- a/tests/apiv2/test_donations.py
+++ b/tests/apiv2/test_donations.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import random
 from datetime import datetime, timedelta
+from typing import Optional
 
 from django.contrib.admin.models import CHANGE
 from django.contrib.auth.models import Permission, User
@@ -30,7 +31,7 @@ def generate_donations(
         count=1,
         state: str,
         transactionstate='COMPLETED',
-        time: datetime = None,
+        time: Optional[datetime] = None,
     ):
         commentstate = 'PENDING'
         readstate = 'PENDING'
diff --git a/tests/randgen.py b/tests/randgen.py
index 59e4564eb..a2594b17a 100644
--- a/tests/randgen.py
+++ b/tests/randgen.py
@@ -647,9 +647,7 @@ def build_random_event(
 
     event = generate_event(rand, start_time=start_time)
     if not start_time:
-        start_time = datetime.datetime.combine(event.date, datetime.time()).replace(
-            tzinfo=datetime.timezone.utc
-        )
+        start_time = datetime.datetime.combine(event.date, utcnow().timetz())
     event.save()
 
     list_of_runs = generate_runs(rand, event=event, num_runs=num_runs, scheduled=True)
diff --git a/tests/requirements.txt b/tests/requirements.txt
index c761416f3..3fa07b0db 100644
--- a/tests/requirements.txt
+++ b/tests/requirements.txt
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 celery==5.2.7
 channels==3.0.4
 # django explicitly not listed here because azure installs a particular series immediately after
-django-ajax-selects==2.2.0
+django-ajax-selects==2.1.0  # publish error, see: https://github.com/crucialfelix/django-ajax-selects/issues/306
 django-ical==1.9.2
 django-paypal==1.1.2
 django-mptt==0.14.0
@@ -10,8 +10,7 @@ django-post-office==3.6.0
 django-timezone-field==6.1.0
 djangorestframework==3.14.0
 backports.zoneinfo==0.2.1 ; python_version<"3.9"
-# TODO: can be removed when 3.11 is oldest supported version
-python-dateutil==2.8.2
+python-dateutil==2.8.2 ; python_version<"3.11"
 # can be removed when either 3.7 is not supported or once we upgrade Celery
 importlib_metadata==4.13.0 ; python_version<"3.8"
 pre-commit==3.5.0 ; python_version>="3.8"
diff --git a/tracker/models/event.py b/tracker/models/event.py
index e7f98dbbe..f17a19444 100644
--- a/tracker/models/event.py
+++ b/tracker/models/event.py
@@ -20,13 +20,6 @@
 from .fields import TimestampField
 from .util import LatestEvent
 
-# TODO: remove when 3.9 is oldest supported version
-
-try:
-    import zoneinfo
-except ImportError:
-    from backports import zoneinfo
-
 # TODO: remove when 3.10 is oldest supported version
 
 try:
@@ -49,7 +42,6 @@ def pairwise(iterable):
     'Headset',
 ]
 
-_timezoneChoices = [(x, x) for x in zoneinfo.available_timezones()]
 _currencyChoices = (('USD', 'US Dollars'), ('CAD', 'Canadian Dollars'))
 
 
@@ -401,7 +393,7 @@ def upcoming(
         elif isinstance(now, str):
             now = datetime.datetime.fromisoformat(now)
         elif isinstance(now, datetime.datetime):
-            now = now.astimezone(datetime.timezone.utc)
+            pass  # no adjustment necessary
         else:
             raise ValueError(f'Expected None, str, or datetime, got {type(now)}')
         if include_current:
diff --git a/tracker/models/prize.py b/tracker/models/prize.py
index 9720918af..d4d999e49 100644
--- a/tracker/models/prize.py
+++ b/tracker/models/prize.py
@@ -423,9 +423,9 @@ def start_draw_time(self):
                 return self.prev_run.endtime - datetime.timedelta(
                     milliseconds=self.prev_run.setup_time_ms
                 )
-            return self.startrun.starttime.replace(tzinfo=datetime.timezone.utc)
+            return self.startrun.start_time_utc
         elif self.starttime:
-            return self.starttime.replace(tzinfo=datetime.timezone.utc)
+            return self.start_time_utc
         else:
             return None