Legislative Session "Not So Bad" for Salt Lake County

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) Two weeks after the Utah Legislature adjourned its session, the mayor of Salt Lake County is taking the aftermath in stride:

"We like to call it the 45-day reign of terror, with Salt Lake County as the target," jokes Mayor Peter Corroon. "But after the soccer stadium was resolved, it seemed to go fairly smoothly."

Corroon says the soccer stadium will sap about two-million dollars from Salt Lake County's hotel tax fund traditionally used for convention and tourism projects. The County will also lose about eight percent of its Zoo Arts and Parks fund as a result of lawmakers prohibiting collection of such "boutique taxes" on groceries.

Additionally, the legislature has required the County to create a new advisory committee of mayors to determine how restaurant tax money should be divvied out:

"It is a lot of chiefs, but they realize not everybody's going to be able to get what they want," says Corroon.

The County collects about 15-million dollars in restaurant taxes each year. Corroon says most of the money is already committed to facilities like the Salt Palace and the Capitol Theater. Mayors on the advisory committee hope to secure new money for their own cultural facilities and amphitheaters.

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