"We lost $250,000 and got $600,000," he said. As to whether the funding package as a whole answers the council's concerns, "It's a positive, (but) it's a little bit different from what we were looking at. We'll have to look at it to see exactly how it goes."

Salt Lake City Councilman Eric Jergensen, who has been working on the Salt Palace expansion bill, placed blame on the county's lobbyists for the last-minute scramblings, saying they never mentioned that county leaders had issues with the bill.

Jergensen said county lobbyists and contractors in various meetings never mentioned that county leaders might have concerns with the funding.

"It was never an issue," he said.

The funding bill is a high priority for county officials, who view expansion as vital to stay competitive for convention business. The lucrative Outdoor Retailers convention sponsors, for example, agreed to keep coming to Salt Lake City only because of expansion plans.

The funding package includes $60 million for Salt Palace Convention Center expansion and $22 million for a new parking structure for Sandy's South Towne Expo Center.

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E-mail: aedwards@desnews.com