At some point, the people of Salt Lake County need to draw the line on the number of projects they want to fund with taxes.

Salt Lake City residents already are paying for museums and recreation facilities approved in a recent bond vote. People countywide will vote soon on whether to continue the Zoo, Arts and Park tax. A new professional soccer team is shopping around for a local government that wants to join forces to build a new stadium. The list seems endless.

Amid all of this, it seems unlikely that county residents would want to pay for a state-of-the-art aquarium, as well.

The County Council gave aquarium backers just enough hope last week to spur them to continue their seven-year quest for a facility. Council members agreed to consider putting a $30 million bond on the general election ballot — but not until 2006.

Frankly, we don't get it.

At the moment, the aquarium has an enviable lease with Salt Lake City's redevelopment agency on a prime piece of land downtown. That lease will expire this year unless the aquarium either passes a bond on this year's ballot or raises $5.6 million privately. The county's decision ruins both possibilities, so why even worry about 2006?

The best choice would have been to end all the talk of a publicly funded aquarium outright.

Backers of the aquarium are quick to make claims that seem overblown, at best. An aquarium, they say, would be a huge draw for tourism. Out-of-staters who now visit only southern Utah would be persuaded to drive to Salt Lake City just to see it. Conventions would decide to come here just because of the fish. These are claims that even tourism and convention officials quietly dismiss.

Not that aquariums are bad things. The temporary aquarium at The Gateway is impressive. It has shown that a large aquarium would indeed be an asset to downtown, even if it doesn't live up to all the hype. But what it hasn't shown is that it would be worth such a sizable public investment.

The backers of virtually every public project make arguments that sound as if the public can't possibly survive without whatever it is they are promoting. At some point, taxpayers have to stop and consider whether they can afford any more of these. Libraries and museums are vital to a community. An aquarium, especially in the middle of an arid desert, seems less of a pressing need.

We hope County Council members, whoever they happen to be two years from now, remember that.