But Mayor Tom Dolan envisions stores ringing up holiday sales, restaurants serving up alluring entrees, condos offering up elegant rooms and offices piling up multimillion-dollar contracts.

Oh, yes, and soccer balls bouncing at a state-of-the-art stadium.

"This has never been about soccer for me," Dolan said as Sandy unwrapped its proposal Tuesday for a 20,000-seat soccer stadium at the heart of a $650 million business and retail hub spanning 136 acres near 9400 S. State St.

Dub it Downtown South or, as Dolan put it, "Gateway times two," the largest economic-development project in Utah history.

And that troubles some Salt Lake County Council members, who argue a scheme of that scope - one that requires $45 million in taxpayer "seed" money - demands professional and public scrutiny.

"In the beginning, we were talking about soccer," Councilwoman Jenny Wilson reminded a gaggle of Sandy and RSL leaders. "It seems today . . . what we're really talking about is a mega-development."

Sandy officials concede public funding for a soccer stadium is paramount as a "catalyst" for the massive project. But they say the details are more palatable and, now, out in the open.

"There's no backroom agenda now," deadpanned Randy Sant, Sandy's economic-development director.

So how much does Sandy and the team want from taxpayers?

Bottom line: The new proposal calls for $45 million - $35 million from county hotel taxes and $10 million from Sandy's Redevelopment Agency funds - for land and infrastructure.

But the payback price on a 30-year bond issued by Sandy would approach $100 million - $71 million in county hotel taxes greenlighted by the Legislature and $25 million culled from property and sales taxes.

County Mayor Peter Corroon rejected an earlier RSL proposal, which called for paying $87.5 million over time for the same county investment. Now, Sandy officials hope they can win over the mayor and council - the issue will come back to the county for debate July 11 - by agreeing to float the loan and reduce the county subsidy by $16 million.

Another selling point: The hotel tax would raise another $108 million over three decades, money that could go to other projects including construction of a Broadway-style theater and remodeling the Capitol Theatre.

Even so, myriad questions remain on the guts of the deal.

For one, who would own the land under the stadium? Sandy brass insist it could be the county or city or both under an interlocal agreement. And from where will the $25 million pledged from property and sales taxes come?

Dolan calls the planned commercial center the poster child for economic-development projects. He says Sandy has three Wall Street firms, including Goldman Sachs, interested in investing.

Corroon worries that such a huge development in Sandy would drain sales from other retail hubs in the Salt Lake Valley.

"Retail is somewhat of a zero-sum game," he said. "We'll have to see what other benefits" the deal offers.

Corroon's point was reinforced by Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, who insists the proposed mega-development in Sandy won't spur new revenue but sap it from other cities.

"This is the biggest rip-off in Utah history," Anderson said. "This is raping and pillaging. They want to build a new downtown on the backs of taxpayers."

The LDS Church plans to pump $1 billion into downtown Salt Lake City by making over the two Main Street malls.

"I find it really, really troubling on a host of levels," County Councilman Mark Crockett said. "We're being asked to make an extraordinary investment for what might be an extraordinary project without going to the extraordinary step of asking voters."

Crockett's Republican colleague Marv Hendrickson argued the finance model ought to be scrutinized by the Debt Review Committee. And Democratic Councilman Jim Bradley wondered where the county would get its collateral.

But Democrats Randy Horiuchi and Joe Hatch reason public funding has aided other large projects, including sports ventures, and that Sandy's offer provides money for other uses.

"Soccer may not be my first choice," Horiuchi said. "But it is what you decide when you want to have a world-class city."

Councilman Cort Ashton also outlined a series of youth programs, including reading and language opportunities that RSL would sponsor in addition to free tickets for at-risk kids. He also offered a plan to charge a small fee on each ticket that could help fund other county projects.

"Whatever the value is we'd be willing to do 10 times that," Dean Howes, RSL's chief economic officer, said about Ashton's ideas.

If the council and Corroon were to sign off, bonds for part or all of the $45 million would be issued in 2007 with the first payment due two years later. Between 2009 and 2014, Sandy would make nearly $13 million in payments from RDA money and other city cash. The city intends to ask the Jordan School District to allow them to tap the schools' portion of property taxes during the first five years of the bond.

In 2015, when a bond to pay off the Salt Palace expansion is retired, county hotel taxes would begin paying nearly $3 million annually with a maximum annual payout of $4 million in 2036.

Sandy officials say there would be no risk to the county because the city would issue the bond.

County leaders, wary that too high a ratio could hamstring them from paying for other bond projects, aren't so sure.

"That's their point of view," said Doug Willmore, Corroon's chief administrative officer.

As for Corroon - who still is grappling with issues about the taxpayer price tag and whether voters want any public money going to a soccer stadium (polls show they don't) - he now faces a new question for Sandy officials:

"Are they going to be investing in the soccer deal or just the retail?" he asked. "That's another question I want to find out."

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Tribune reporter Christopher Smart contributed to this story.

djensen@sltrib.com

jsantini@sltrib.com

Stadium funding

at a glance

l Sandy issues a $45 million bond ($35 million from the county and $10 million from the city) in 2007 to buy 42 acres and fund infrastructure for a 20,000-seat stadium and parking.

l The total payback price for the 30-year bond would be $96.5 million - $71.3 million from hotel taxes and $25.2 million from property and sales taxes collected from the development.

Above, Tom Dolan answers the council's questions. The Salt Lake County Council heard chamber officials from Sandy as they presented their funding proposal for major league soccer stadium in Sandy. Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan and his team presented their pitch for the stadium to SL County Mayor Peter Corroon and council.