Salt Lake City eyes half-cent tax increase for new sports-entertainment zone

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Residents in Salt Lake City will likely be the funders of a sports-entertainment zone centering on the Jazz and Utah’s new NHL team, even if they never buy a ticket to a game.

A proposed half-cent sales tax increase in Salt Lake City could pay for construction of a new arena, demolition, and “aesthetic, entertainment, recreational (and) safety” improvements within a new zone on and near the Delta Center

The Delta Center also could be remodeled under the plan.

The tax hike — with an aim of raising $1 billion over as many as 30 years — could also be used for “debt service” on city or state borrowing for the project.

Borrowing could happen to jumpstart upgrades.

The tax hike would only be imposed in Salt Lake City — not the suburbs, not the Wasatch Front, not the entire state.

“It probably isn’t fair; it probably should be broader,” said Shane Hanna, who lives in Sugar House. “The surrounding areas will benefit from it (NHL/Jazz) as well.”

Lisa Eastman, from American Fork, said she would be willing to chip in too.

“It’s going to be a Utah team,” she said. “We read that yesterday. It’s not a Salt Lake team, it’s a Utah team.”

The approach for NHL-Jazz is very different than what’s planned for a new “Fairpark District,” which could be home field for an expansion Major League Baseball team.

For baseball, property taxes from new building in the Fairpark area would finance an MLB stadium, with a cap at $900 million.

In both cases, tax subsidies would go to projects surrounding professional sports teams, owned or potentially owned in the future, by people widely believed to be billionaires: Ryan Smith with Smith Entertainment Group and Gail Miller with Larry H. Miller Company.

Clayton Holdstock, who described himself as a “casual hockey fan,” said he could see both sides of public financing.

“I’m sure the argument is that there are these big companies profiting from the small guy,” Holdstock said. “On the other side, these projects are going to benefit the whole community.”

Gavin Roberts, chair of Weber State University’s Economics Department, said studies over decades consistently show taxpayer funded sports venues do not provide long-term economic benefits.

But Roberts said there may be other reasons to make the investments, including community “cohesiveness.”

The Salt Lake City Council has not yet approved the .5% sales tax hike as of Friday, but may soon.

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