Most oppose Real deal

Most Salt Lake County residents not only oppose the use of hotel tax dollars for a soccer stadium site but they also would sign a petition to try to repeal the use of the $35 million asked for the project by the Utah Legislature.

A Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll shows that 65 percent of residents would sign the petition. In addition, 63 percent of residents believe Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and legislative leaders should not have passed the legislation. The Dan Jones & Associates poll of 161 county residents has a margin of error of 7.7 percent.

The poll comes just days after five Utahns filed a referendum request with the state to let voters decide whether or not tax money should be used for Real Salt Lake. A majority of the residents of Salt Lake County, where those tax dollars would be generated, say they don't approve of the state-backed plan.

A spokesman for Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. defended the legislative action. "The governor feels that future and current generations will long benefit from the amenity of a soccer stadium that's entirely paid for by private dollars," said Mike Mower, Huntsman's spokesman. "In addition, the state will retain the ownership of the land under the stadium."

Huntsman pushed a plan that gives Real Salt Lake $35 million in hotel-tax dollars for land and parking at the stadium site. That plan, which came in the form of a revised House bill, had the backing of state leadership. Days earlier, Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon had denied a similar deal, calling it a risky investment.

In response, a group of co-workers is leading a petition drive — Get Real Utah — to let voters decided where that money should go. They have until April 19 to collect nearly 92,000 signatures of voters from 15 counties who participated in the last gubernatorial election.

The Jones poll was conducted March 7 and 8. Of note: Dan Jones has also conducted research for Real Salt Lake.

Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan said he doesn't think people fully understand what the legislation does.

"I don't think people know the full facts about it. You can poll people forever, and I don't think people will understand it," he said. Sandy City is planning to send out literature to constituents explaining the terms of the funding deal and host a series of public hearings. Both should start in the next couple of weeks, Dolan said.

Also in the next couple of weeks, an interlocal agreement among the state, Sandy City and the team should be signed. That agreement will spell out everything the team is getting to stay in Utah and everything the team has to do in return.