SALT LAKE CITY — A massive bill creating public infrastructure tax increment financing around "major sporting event venues" has been unveiled in the Utah State Legislature.
Senate Bill 333, sponsored by Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, creates a "major sporting event venue zone to capture property tax increment and sales and use tax increment." That allows for infrastructure improvements and tax increment financing deals to build new facilities.
The bill appears tied to the 2034 Winter Olympics that Salt Lake City will host. It could lead to some new facilities or remodeling of others.
Sen. Stevenson told reporters on Tuesday he is still working on the bill even after filing it.
"We’re trying to shrink this down to hopefully tie it to new facilities," he said. "But it would be the infrastructure, not the buildings."
The senator also insisted it would not put taxpayers on the hook for major projects like the Delta Center remodel to accommodate the Utah Hockey Club or the Larry H. Miller Company's plans for a Major League Baseball stadium in Salt Lake City.
"It doesn’t have anything to do with football, baseball, hockey, basketball," Sen. Stevenson told FOX 13 News. "This isn’t a way around private funding these type of things."
But Billy Hesterman, the president of the Utah Taxpayers Association, had some concerns.
"We’re cautiously interested in what’s taking place. We understand there needs to be investments for certain events that may be coming to our state in the future," he told FOX 13 News. "But we want to make sure they’re done in a way that’s protective of the taxpayer and responsible for the state."
The bill was just introduced on Tuesday in the Utah State Legislature. It is expected to move quickly through the final two weeks of the legislative session.
