Funding a new theater that could stage the Broadway musical is just one idea Salt Lake County leaders are bandying about as they ponder how to divvy up a $41 million surplus in Salt Lake Valley landfill operations.

Up to half the dump's reserve - $20 million - may become available to freshen the coffers at Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County, the facility's co-owners.

So says the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office in a letter that notes it is "possible" for city and county leaders to funnel those excess funds for uses other than solid waste.

But accessing the money requires amending the city-county interlocal agreement, which has dictated spending rules for more than a decade. And officials must keep enough in the bank to satisfy signed agreements with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.

After that, doling out the surplus may become a political tug of war stretching from interest in acquiring open space to helping build a Broadway-style theater on Salt Lake City's Main Street. County Councilman Randy Horiuchi is floating both ideas - and some others - for the money.

What about using it to cover that behemoth $80 million bill the county and city share - with help from the state - to expand the Salt Palace and Sandy's South Towne Expo Center?

Perhaps a victim of timing.

County Public Works Director John Patterson says the DA's opinion - which comes just after a Salt Palace deal was brokered in this week's special legislative session - was a "complete coincidence."

Rep. Ralph Becker - the House Democratic leader leery that the state got the "best end" of the convention center deal - doubts the surplus would have altered the arrangement.

Besides, tapping the landfill's so-called tipping-fee surplus is not guaranteed. Once the interlocal agreement is rewritten, the landfill council must sign off. And court challenges always lurk.

But Karl Hendrickson, the DA's chief deputy who penned the opinion, cites a Brigham City case in which surplus funds were transferred.

His letter concedes that most courts have ruled that such "special funds" cannot be spent on an alternative use. But Hendrickson told The Salt Lake Tribune on Friday that, while the law is not absolutely clear and qualified, "it's possible that some of that money could be used."

Patterson, who estimates $6 million to $20 million could be siphoned without jeopardizing environmental standards, suggested much of the surplus is insurance overkill. Most, he says, is kept in case of "catastrophic losses" such as fires, chemical spills and major equipment failures.

"All these things happening in the same week? That simply is not going to happen," Patterson says. "No insurance company in the world does that."

But Romney Stewart, executive director of the landfill, says officials still have not defined what is essential and what is optional.

"We're still a long way from landing on a reasonable amount," he says. "We still have to have some cushion."

Whatever amount - if any - is freed for general-fund use must be divided equally between the city and county.

The potential windfall comes as space concerns at the public landfill grow. County and city officials have long anticipated the problem - a private landfill is in the works in Tooele - but have made no binding deals.

Some say the reserve was kept high to help pay for a new landfill. Horiuchi insists a green waste pickup program could buy 10 more years at the current facility. His idea: use the surplus to issue a third garbage can for grass and yard trimmings for compost. That could clear space at a landfill already swelling with 30 percent yard waste.

Short of that, Horiuchi would like to see the premiums secure more open space or go to recreation.

Or to help remodel the Utah Theatre for touring shows.

"It's the kind of money we ought to reinvest in the community," Horiuchi said.

djensen@sltrib.com