Though the bargaining between the team, the county, Sandy, Salt Lake City and legislative leaders has gone on for months, the final compromise only took shape late last week, and none of those negotiations was public. Various officials still couldn't explain important details on Monday.
County Mayor Peter Corroon won our praise when he recommended against an earlier version of the deal. He is one of the architects of the new bargain, and says, through one of his financial officers, that it would be a good deal for taxpayers. We are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but we also remember the words of Ronald Reagan: "Trust, but verify."
The basic outline of the plan goes like this:
Salt Lake County is planning a $20 million parking lot for the South Towne Expo Center. Moving that lot across the street to the stadium site near 9400 S. State would save Real the cost of building its own parking. The county would own the land and would get about $250,000 a year in parking revenue.
The team also would put a 50-cent surcharge on tickets, which would raise another $150,000 a year for the county.
The county would issue up to $20 million in bonds, beginning in 2011 when hotel tax revenues become available. The county would use that money to buy some assets from Real, which could then retire part of its debt for the stadium. Exactly what assets, and whether they could include real estate, remains a major unanswered question.
Sandy would contribute another $15 million in tax-increment redevelopment funds for infrastructure.
Real would donate $7.5 million to Salt Lake City's planned soccer complex. Because that city generates most of the county's hotel tax revenues, and because the new complex could attract regional youth tournaments that would fill hotels, that trade-off makes sense.
There are other elements to this complicated deal. They need to be fully explained before the County Council votes.
