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Richard Piatt ReportingA battle is brewing at the state capitol over a bill that might help get the ReAL Salt Lake soccer stadium project going.
For ReAL Salt Lake, paying for a stadium is one thing. Paying for a parking lot, sewer lines, landscaping, and other improvements is something else. That's why the team supports a bill at the Capitol to extend a hotel room tax, that would chip in 45-million dollars for that work.
Josh Ewing, ReAL Salt Lake: "Quite frankly, if this isn't a private/public partnership, the stadium doesn't get built."
The amount of the tax sound low, one and a quarter percent, but it adds enough to make a big difference, and approved as a 'tourism tax'.
In Salt Lake County, the tax already exists, in fact it's being used to fund the Salt Palace expansion project. But it's supposed to go away in a few years. Members of the hotel industry have a specific problem with using that same money to fund the soccer stadium improvements.
In other words, will a soccer stadium pay off for the economy enough to make the investment worth it? Some say 'no'.
Mike Jerman, Utah Taxpayers Association: "Will that really generate out of state tourists, or is it just about taking tourists from one part of Utah and putting them in another part of Utah?"
The powerful hotel and tourist industry could go head-to-head with those who want the stadium to succeed, those in House and Senate Leadership. The resulting battle could affect the future of the stadium and similar projects in the rest of the state, too.
