Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon made it through his entire first term without vetoing a single measure from a Republican-controlled County Council.

Now, just six months after power shifted to his fellow Democrats, Corroon has unleashed his pen.

In a rare display of mayoral might, Corroon on Thursday blocked a $5 million property-tax increase, placing him at odds with the council's five Democrats. They remain adamant that higher taxes are needed to mend the county's recession-bruised budget before entering yet another year of economic blows in 2010.

While Democratic Councilman Joe Hatch will call for a July 14 override of Corroon's decision, he concedes that Democrats probably won't sway a sixth vote among Republicans to revive the proposed tax boost -- which would have added about $10 a year to a $250,000 home.

"I hope [Corroon] is right," Hatch said Thursday. "If he is wrong, oh my God."

True to his campaign promise not to raise property taxes, the recently re-elected Corroon announced Thursday that he would not sanction higher taxes to bolster the county's nearly $800 million budget. Instead, he will urge millions in spending cuts that could include canceling the 2010 Salt Lake County Fair and, starting next year, closing nine recreation centers on Sundays. (More than $20 million already has been slashed from this year's ledger.)

"We need to make a strong statement to the public that we will cut expenses before raising taxes," he said. "While some of the cuts are painful, a tax increase is not warranted at this time."

The veto reflects a philosophical stalemate between Corroon and the council Democrats, all of whom discovered a month ago that the county's investment-related earnings have plunged $9.4 million below expectations.

While council Democrats warn that the county must take immediate action to avoid potentially severe program cuts and a more burdensome tax increase in 2010, Corroon argues for a longer-term financial fix that would spread slimmed-down spending over the next 18 months -- without tapping taxpayers for more money.

Democrats offered to reduce the proposed tax hike "dollar for dollar" in exchange for more aggressive 2009 cuts, but Corroon didn't bite.

The mayor's maiden veto comes just six months after Democrats seized a majority on the council, handing them executive and legislative control. While the two branches agreed on insurance benefits for same-sex couples, the creation of an independent redistricting commission and other progressive issues, they came to loggerheads on budgeting.

So was Corroon's decision linked to an upcoming governor's race in 2010? The mayor, who already has announced he won't seek a third term, is seen as a leading Democratic contender for the state's top spot.

"I'm not trying to run for governor," Corroon insisted. "My focus is on balancing Salt Lake County's budget."

Kelly Patterson, a political science professor at Brigham Young University, doubts the tax increase, given Corroon's track record, would have damaged a gubernatorial bid.

"One vote, one act very rarely spoils anyone's chances," he said.

Patterson notes Corroon's opposition to higher taxes is "very consistent with his general ideology about governing."

"I'm not saying that [the governor's race] wasn't a factor," Patterson said. "But to say that it is the overriding factor is not an apt description."

Corroon has built much of his political identity as a protector of the public purse -- especially his headline-grabbing opposition to taxpayer funding for Real Salt Lake's Sandy soccer stadium.

Now, Corroon and the council must look to 2010. The mayor has proposed more than $13 million in budget cuts and other financial fixes during the next 18 months that he believes will keep the budget in the black.

His recommendations include scrapping the County Fair, rolling back cost-of-living increases for employees, laying off close to 30 workers and shuttering nine fitness centers on Sundays.

While those cost-cutting measures won't bench the county's ice hockey, softball or basketball leagues -- the rec centers and ball fields hosting them won't be affected -- it could keep Wendy Smith from her four-plus-mile walks each Sunday at the Holladay Lions Recreation Center. While she walks, her husband swims.

"It is sad to have such a great facility like that sit idle for a day," Smith said. "For the people who use it regularly, it is awful."

Then, with a pause, the 69-year-old patron added, "I'd like it to stay open, but I respect the mayor's judgment."

The council will decide in upcoming weeks whether the mayor's cuts make sense. Some Republicans question whether Corroon's 2.5 percent slice into the district attorney's and sheriff's budgets are too austere at a time when the county is reopening a second jail.

"We're going down the right course," Republican Councilman Jeff Allen said. "We'll have to take a closer look at exactly what is going to be affected."

But Democratic Councilman Jim Bradley worries the mayor has put the county on a course he later will regret.

"What this action does is provide an immense challenge for 2010," he said. "We should just get prepared for a tax raise in 2010. Hopefully I'm wrong. Hopefully the economy comes back gangbusters, that sales taxes will go up and that more people will go out to eat. I'm just not as optimistic about that as Peter seems to be."

jstettler@sltrib.com