But a day after lawmakers approved the Provo Republican's RDA overhaul, there was little talk that the team's dream of a 22,000-seat stadium is now dead.
Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson said he would urge Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., to veto the bill. And if that doesn't work, he and others hope to get the stadium provision repealed next year. "It's devastating to the entire state. We're going to lose this team. This team will end up in some other state," Anderson said.
But RSL officials say the legislation may hurt, but it won't kill their vision.
"We are moving forward," team CEO Dean Howes said Thursday. "We have committed to Major League Soccer."
And even some Salt Lake City Council members are unconcerned by Senate Bill 184.
Councilman Dave Buhler argues the measure could force a delay in the stadium plans, giving the team a year to prove it can draw fans while playing at the University of Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium. Buhler said he had told RSL officials they were "pretty ambitious to blow into town and ask for all these things before playing their first game."
The 10-acre block - between Main Street and West Temple, from 600 South to 700 South - that Salt Lake City initially proposed for the stadium could cost up to $20 million. Anderson is now pursing less expensive back-up sites.
In Murray, the other community in the stadium sweepstakes with a potential site near the 4400 South TRAX station, the cost would be much less. Still, the Murray City Council has said it will not use RDA funds to buy land or infrastructure for the venue.
The bill doesn't prevent either city from drawing on other funds to attract the team, although it is unlikely that Salt Lake City would be able to fund the stadium land without RDA money.
Bramble entered the 2005 legislative session with a plan to prevent cities from using RDA funds for projects that included retail - such as those used to lure big-box outlets. While Bramble settled for a yearlong moratorium on that front, he stuck with the stadium prohibition.
The measure also prevents cities from extending RDAs and condemning property within an RDA district to force out landowners.
Cities create RDAs to remake economic dead zones by tapping expected property-tax increases. The property taxes generally go toward backing bonds, which finance infrastructure upgrades such as roads and utilities. Other taxing entities, primarily schools, complain that RDAs rob them of increased property taxes for more than 30 years.
While the Utah League of Cities and Towns fought the RDA reforms for much of the session - before settling on a compromise - there seems to be little focus on a veto.
"The governor doesn't generally veto a bill that passed 29-0 [initially] in the Senate and 56-12 in the House," said Randy Sant, Sandy's economic-development director.
RSL has not decided whether to push for a veto on its own, Howes said.
The Utah Taxpayers Association - which supports RDA reform - is expecting a veto lobby. But "I'd be shocked" if Gov. Huntsman struck down the bill, said Mike Jerman, the group's vice president.
jsantini@sltrib.com
