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House Speaker Greg Curtis has proclaimed Utah's Major League Soccer stadium deal "dead."
In an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune on Monday afternoon, the Sandy Republican said repeated delays by Salt Lake County politicians and stadium burn-out on Capitol Hill has compelled the one-time stadium architect to move on.
As such, Curtis has filed a bill for next week's legislative session - language is still being finalized - that is designed to steer hotel tax once slated for a Sandy stadium toward a TRAX line to the airport. The funding would be necessary for the Utah Transit Authority, Curtis says, should the Legislature agree to remove the sales tax on food, thus stripping funding for UTA.
If the food measure fails, the speaker intends to direct the county's 1.25 percent hotel tax, authorized in 2006 ostensibly for a stadium, to the expansion and renovation of Hogle Zoo instead. Curtis also wants some $20 million in hotel tax to fund parking at the South Towne Expo Center, as first directed by state lawmakers in 2005.
"I personally think soccer's dead," Curtis said. "It's unfortunate. I'm simply saying, I'm moving forward to reallocate the tax."
To be sure, the stadium saga has been on a turbulent track for the past year. It appeared buried last spring only to be revived last summer following an 11th-hour summit of Utah's political elite.
Curtis' comments surprised county leaders, who are waiting for a financial project review to be completed by an independent, Los Angeles-based sports consultant before making a decision. The report is expected about the same time the Legislature convenes Jan. 15.
"It's not dead for us," said Doug Willmore, county Mayor Peter Corroon's chief administrative officer. "We're going to continue to go down the methodical approach that the mayor laid out and see where it leads us."
Corroon is out of town on personal business.
Officials from Real Salt Lake could not be reached for reaction.
Late Monday, RSL owner Dave Checketts was on a plane headed to Salt Lake City. But his mission: meet with the editorial boards of both daily newspapers on Tuesday, not the politicians debating soccer. His plane is due to fly out at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, according to team spokesman Eric Gelfand, who said he was "unaware" of any other meetings scheduled by Checketts.
Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan said he shares Curtis' dismay over the county's progress on the stadium deal.
"It's been exceptionally slow. I've been more than frustrated," Dolan said. "We're going into the legislative session, and we thought we had an understanding, an agreement with the county, ... a year ago."
Dolan hopes the county will come through and determine the deal meets financial muster before Curtis amends the hotel-room tax. But without county participation, he acknowledges the deal is dead.
Since last summer, county officials have pressed RSL to open the team's financial books, which happened late last year. Next, county leaders want their Debt Review Committee to scrutinize RSL's business plan before Corroon makes a stadium recommendation to the County Council.
That appears too long for Curtis, who notes a 30-day review would push the stadium issue toward the end of the legislative session.
"My legislative colleagues are looking at it saying, 'We're burned out on this.'"
"It's laying there on life support. They're just waiting until after the session to pull the plug. After this session, I don't ever want to hear the word soccer again."
Tribune reporter Rosemary Winters contributed to this story. djensen@sltrib.com" Target="_BLANK">djensen@sltrib.com rwinters@sltrib.com" Target="_BLANK">rwinters@sltrib.com