Legislative leaders' desire for political gain may jeopardize a Salt Lake County ballot proposition to raise sales taxes for roads or transit, county Councilman Joe Hatch said Wednesday.

The proposition asks voters whether Salt Lake County should be authorized to levy a quarter-cent sales tax hike for "corridor preservation, congestion mitigation, or to expand capacity for regionally significant transportation facilities." County leaders had hoped to tell voters which projects the money would be used for, but legislative leaders nixed the idea this week.

Hatch said lawmakers feared that telling voters what projects would be funded might jeopardize the chances of those seeking leadership positions in the next session of the Legislature. Lawmakers would take sides in whether to advocate funding for roads or transit and support leaders who sided with their agendas, he said.

"I'm extremely disappointed, particularly in Senate leadership on this," Hatch said. "Everything I've been hearing is that they're the ones that put the kibosh on having a list of projects prior to the election. My understanding is that is because President (John) Valentine is extremely concerned about his leadership race."

"I'd say from my perspective, it has turned me from someone who would normally be campaigning for this, actively, to someone who will now just see what happens," Hatch added.

The Legislature last month in a special session passed a bill that authorized the county to levy the tax hike. Under the law, before county leaders can decide where the money goes, they must obtain approval from legislative leadership of a process for picking projects.

The Executive Appropriations Committee was to meet next Tuesday to debate a process that Salt Lake County mayors approved last month. The item was pulled from the agenda at the request of legislative leaders, said committee chairman, Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan.

Subsequently, county leaders on Wednesday canceled a meeting they had scheduled for Oct. 18 to pick the projects. Now, all that voters will know before going to the polls is that their money would fund transportation fixes — not construction of a specific TRAX line, or new road in their community.

Valentine, R-Orem, denied Hatch's accusations Wednesday. Legislative leaders decided not to have a hearing on the county's plan to pick projects for two reasons, he said.

House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, is traveling with the governor to China next week and can't make the meeting. And lawmakers did not want the county to be committed to building a specific list of projects, Valentine said.

"You're kidding yourself if you don't think the needs and priorities are going to change over the next couple years," he said. "It's probably better not to have the list of projects."