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Committee advances bill to let Salt Lake County repurpose funds for convention center rebuild
Summary
Senate Bill 306 would clarify and expand Salt Lake County’s use of existing local revenue tools and hotel mitigation funds to support rebuilding and revitalizing the downtown convention center area; the committee recommended the bill 3‑1.
Senator Daniel McKay presented Senate Bill 306 as a measure to provide Salt Lake County additional clarity and flexibility to finance parts of a convention center rebuild and the broader downtown sports, entertainment and convention district.
Lincoln Shirts, speaking on behalf of county interests and the Salt Lake County administration, told the committee the legislation is not intended to create new revenue but to provide “flexibility and clarity in their existing revenue tools” and to clean up language in prior law governing hotel mitigation funds. He said the changes would allow the Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity to disperse funds already set aside to address economic impacts from convention‑hotel development.
Salt Lake County Mayor Wilson told the committee the bill would repurpose a portion of fourth‑quarter transportation dollars specific to Salt Lake County and would not affect the county’s broader road funding. “We feel this is a good purpose,” she said, and described the proposed rebuild of the Salt Palace and connecting downtown assets as a win for residents and visitors, particularly with a view to completion before the Olympic Games.
Committee members questioned the fiscal note and local impact. McKay said he approved a fiscal note over the weekend; he described it as roughly $3,500 related to administrative costs for hotel mitigation adjustments. Committee members also discussed the treatment of 300 West — a busy downtown corridor — and local negotiations with UDOT about whether to leave the road at grade, close it, or build a subterranean routing with a plaza above. McKay said he anticipated language changes that would allow UDOT and the city to consider options and return with a final solution.
Senator Harper said he was not “quite there yet” on the bill and indicated a substitute was expected; the committee nevertheless voted to recommend the bill with one dissenting vote. The motion to pass SB 306 with a favorable recommendation passed 3‑1, with Senator Harper voting no. The committee chair said the bill will proceed to the floor.
No additional revenue sources were added in the bill as presented to the committee; a sponsor representative said that the bill “does not do anything to enhance any revenue going towards the Delta Center or the private investment that's occurring within the area. It is specific to the rebuild of the convention center.”
