Real deal not over yet, mayor of Sandy says

Despite rumors that Real Salt Lake may flee Sandy — or Utah — for another home base, Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan said Friday that the team will still build its soccer stadium in the south valley suburb.

"It's not over yet," Dolan said. "They've remained quite committed to having soccer in Utah, having a stadium in Sandy. They want to make this work."

The mayor had a conference call with Real officials Friday morning, including team owner Dave Checketts and CEO Dean Howes, in which team officials reassured Dolan of their plans to stay in the Beehive State. Their meeting is important to stadium proponents because it comes on the heels of Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon's decision Wednesday to reject Real's request for $35 million in hotel tax revenues for the stadium.

Real is expected to officially reveal its plans today at a press conference.

The question remains, however: Where will the public money come from?

Real has said from the beginning that the $145 million project is not possible without some public dollars.

But Corroon rejected the request for hotel taxes, saying the county would end up shouldering $87.5 million of debt to give the team $35 million. "It just didn't make financial sense," Corroon reiterated Friday at a Utah Taxpayers Association confer- ence.

However, Dolan said he might have a way to make it work.

The Sandy is juggling numerous funding options, most of which Dolan said he couldn't yet comment on. But he did say fronting Sandy's $10 million in redevelopment agency funds will close the gap between now and the time when hotel taxes will not be tied up in the Salt Palace.

This year, the Legislature removed the sunset on an existing law allowing counties to collect hotel tax dollars for tourism projects. Currently, the money is being used for Salt Palace expansion and is tied up until 2011.

But Real wants that tax money now, creating the gap that caused Corroon to say no to the plan.

Dolan said he understands Corroon's concerns and, if Sandy uses its share upfront, that will alleviate them.

However, before that money is funneled toward the stadium, the Sandy City Council would have to approve the funding. The decision would then move on to the city's taxing entity committee, made up of city, county and school district representatives.