SL County Officials OK Stadium Funding Agreement

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) The Salt Lake County Council and Mayor held their noses and signed an agreement guaranteeing ReAL Salt Lake it's 35-million tax dollars for a stadium in Sandy. Mayor Peter Corroon tried to make clear his signature only approves collecting the hotel tax, and is NOT an endorsement of the stadium funding deal:

"It's my understanding that the Wall Street folks don't feel comfortable unless they have something in writing showing that Salt Lake County will continue to collect the transient room tax," says Corroon. "We use that money for a lot of things - conventions, tourism, recreation, arts. So from our side I don't see why we would ever NOT want to collect it."

Many County Council members who previously opposed the stadium joined Corroon in endorsing the interlocal agreement. Most also agreed it won't make much difference, since the State Legislature went ahead and promised the tax dollars to RSL without their support. The team has suggested that the interlocal agreement will help secure a lower interest rate on the bonds, which is the primary reason Councilman Jim Bradley voted ‘yes':

"I don't think it matters what we do, but on the slight chance indeed it does provide a better rate for taxpayers, why not?" says Bradley.

Councilmen Mark Crockett and Dave Wilde cast dissenting votes because they worry about committing the County to collect the hotel tax at a certain rate for 20 years. Wilde, in particular, raised concerns that the current council has no legal authority to bind a future council to the agreement. Attorneys for the county say the law is unclear on that point.

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