In announcing the ambitious project for 9400 South and State Street in Sandy, team owner Dave Checketts and his admiring entourage of public officials finessed any discussion of how much, if any, of the $75 million to be spent on the centerpiece 25,000-seat soccer stadium will come from the public till.

Checketts pledged that the stadium and its attendant hotels, stores, restaurants and open spaces will not "increase the load on the Utah taxpayers."

Fair enough. But what isn't settled is whether any of the existing tax load shouldered by Utah, Salt Lake County, Sandy or even Salt Lake City taxpayers might be redirected away from any number of truly public uses and toward a project that is, at best, a toy and, at worst, a giant white elephant.

But what a toy.

If the reality matches the vision, So-and-So (naming rights for sale) Stadium will not only be a striking addition to the south valley skyline, it will also anchor a redevelopment area of 100 acres or more. The vision exceeds the retail and entertainment boom that folks had hoped would magically spring up around the Franklin Covey Field baseball stadium in Salt Lake City.

Rather than counting on such growth to evolve, Checketts is apparently planning some intelligent design of the surrounding area. He is putting the land under contract and, perhaps, planning to recapture some of the resulting increase in sales and/or property taxes to pay for, if not the stadium itself, then maybe some of the street, utility and other necessary infrastructure.

Because a successful development could produce more revenue for state and local government without any tax rates being increased, Checketts could arguably tap that source without breaking his promise not to increase the tax load on others.

If, that is, somebody puts an honest pencil to the question of just how much stress the whole redevelopment area puts on local government, and its other taxpayers, for everything from transportation needs to additional public safety personnel.

There is room for honest negotiation. There is no room for a trick play where Real moves the ball down the field and then, once everybody is fully invested in the idea, claims that it can't make it work without greater taxpayer support.

Let's work all that out now, before either the ground, or Checketts' promise, is broken.