Fate of Stadium May Lie in Tuesday Meeting

None by KCPW

SL County Council, Sandy Officials, RSL Reconvene

(KCPW News) The Salt Lake County Council has had two weeks to mull a proposal from Sandy City officials who want tax dollars to help build a pro-soccer stadium. The plan calls for approximately $35-million for public infrastructure that would come from the county's hotel tax. Councilman Dave Wilde calls it the most difficult decision he's made in nearly six years on the council.

"There's a lot of things I like about it. It's going to be funded by taxes that come almost exclusively from out-of-state tax payers who come and stay in hotels," says Wilde.

Councilman Joe Hatch says he, too, is leaning in support of the proposal, which would allow Sandy City to bond for the money up front and then pay it off using the county's hotel tax. Hatch believes there's enough of that tax money to go around.

"If we use only $30-million of that for soccer, that allows $60-million for other projects," says Hatch. "This is my bottomline: I want $10-million of it for Salt Lake County. That leaves $40-million for things that need to be done in downtown Salt Lake."

Those downtown projects include creating a reserve account for the Salt Palace and preliminary efforts for an arts district. The Salt Lake County Council has devoted two hours to stadium discussion beginning at nine Tuesday morning.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2009 KCPW