Update: The bill supporting Utah's MLB stadium was made public Tuesday evening. It includes a 1.6% transient room tax increase statewide, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
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During a meeting with Park City businesses Tuesday, Park City Chamber President and CEO Jennifer Wesselhoff expressed concerns about the Utah Legislature’s efforts to lure Major League Baseball to Salt Lake City.
Wesselhoff said a bill in the works was initially going to include a 2.5% transient room tax (TRT) increase for seven surrounding counties including Summit and Wasatch.
“That would virtually double our 3% current TRT,” Wesselhoff said. “Obviously those seven counties who were being asked to burden the majority of that cost were not very happy about that, and we’ve been working really hard over the last two weeks to try to make that more equitable. The Major League Baseball vision for the state is really well liked by leadership.”
The bill has not been made public yet, but Wesselhoff said they’re now expecting to see a 1.5% TRT increase across the state.
The transient room tax is charged on stays in hotels, Airbnbs, trailer courts, and campgrounds. 70% of TRT revenue currently goes to the chamber, with the rest going to Summit County.
Two-thirds of the funds must be spent on marketing, with the rest allocated to projects like trails and open space acquisition.
Summit County Manager Shayne Scott said the county’s team is monitoring the bill. He said there could be a provision that allows corporate retreats to be exempt from the potential new TRT tax.
“We don’t want to be the most expensive option when it comes to holding these groups, so if we could keep them out of that for a block of rooms, that would be very impactful to a local establishment, not to mention our restaurants and all the other amenities that we try to provide for groups like that.”
Scott said he expects counties far from Salt Lake to lobby against any statewide tax increase.
According to The Salt Lake Tribune, the legislation would involve issuing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bonds, essentially borrowing the money. That would ultimately be repaid by the revenue generated through the new TRT tax.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox threw his weight behind the idea Thursday at his monthly press conference.
“We have some of the lowest taxes in the United States on hotels, most states have higher taxes there,” Cox said. “The argument is that there’s a little bit of room, most of those taxes actually paid by people outside the state of Utah. So that’s one area where we’re having discussions and negotiations where I’m open to it. I’m not open to using general fund money and writing a check to subsidize these at all.”
Last week the Larry H. Miller Company announced plans to invest $3.5 billion for a baseball stadium and surrounding entertainment district in an industrial area west of downtown Salt Lake City. USA Today reports Salt Lake and Nashville are the two frontrunners for the MLB’s 2030 expansion.
Officials are still waiting to see the exact language of the bill, which has yet to be released. The Utah Legislative session ends March 1.
