SALT LAKE CITY — Governor Spencer Cox defended a tax deal designed to remodel the Delta Center for a professional hockey team and develop a significant portion of downtown.
"I think it’s brilliant the way that it all came together, especially when you look at what’s been done in many other locations across the country," he told reporters at his monthly news conference on Thursday. "This is very different and very unique."
Asked about the downtown development plans, the governor declined to weigh in on what happens with Abravanel Hall and the Salt Palace, telling reporters: "My preference is to make sure that this corridor is vibrant. That it is a place where people can gather."
Faced with complaints from arts lovers concerned that Abravanel Hall could be bulldozed for new development, Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson said it was her preference that the concert hall remain as is. Smith Entertainment Group, which owns the Utah Jazz and the new National Hockey League team, said it would also like to see Abravanel Hall stay.
"I think we’re all pretty much aligned," Gov. Cox said of the downtown vision. "Now, obviously, there are details that have to be worked out. We’re just at the front end of that. As far as Abravanel hall goes, it’s an iconic building."
The building still needs hundreds of millions of dollars in upgrades, which the Salt Lake County Council is expected to to discuss next week.
The Salt Lake City Council will decide in July whether to raise the sales tax .5% to help fund downtown development, including a remodel of the Delta Center to accommodate the Utah Jazz and the new hockey team. A public hearing is scheduled May 21. Ryan and Ashley Smith, the teams' owners, are planning to invest $3.5 billion of their own money into the development project, the Smith Entertainment Group has said.
But the head of the Utah State Tax Commission has warned that too many tax deals the Utah State Legislature has pushed — including authorizing the Salt Lake City sales tax increase for an arena, the tax financing deal for a Major League Baseball stadium, the inland port project, the Point of the Mountain development project and others — risk eroding the state's overall tax base.
"As a taxpayer? I would be concerned that the government can’t do the function that they’re required to do without raising the taxes because they’re diverting the taxes for other things," Commission Chair John Valentine told FOX 13 News last week.
Asked about Valentine's remarks, Gov. Cox said he disagreed with them.
"Yeah, I disagree," the governor said. "We’ve been, in fact, very careful as we’ve gone through this with the legislature and with experts to make sure we’re not doing that."
While Salt Lake City taxpayers could see a small sales tax increase to help fund these development plans, the governor insisted it was good for the city and the state as a whole.
"This is so much bigger than hockey. So much bigger than an arena," he said. "I feel confident when people see the vision of what this is going to do to transform downtown, there will be broad support."
