County will delve into RSL finances

County will delve into RSL finances

By Derek P. Jensen
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune

As the furor over Utah's proposed Major League Soccer stadium fades, one financial mystery remains: Does Real Salt Lake really have the cash?

Peter Corroon, the fiscally conservative Salt Lake County mayor, is determined to find out.

Corroon has called on the District Attorney's Office to convene the county's strict Debt Review Committee to scrutinize all things RSL. Within 30 days, the mayor wants to see the team's money, including RSL's investment partners, financial history and comprehensive business plan.

"We want to know about the stadium - how it's being financed, who the investors are - to make sure the team is viable," Corroon said Wednesday. "I'd like to know myself whether we're going to go forward or not."

Since the summer's drama threatened to derail a stadium agreement, Doug Willmore, Corroon's chief administrative officer, notes the county never did its due diligence on the team, which vows to pay for the $100 million stadium in Sandy and tap $55 million in public money for land and infrastructure.

"It's now time to determine if they have a going business that can stand on its own and if the county is willing to invest in it," Willmore said.

RSL spokesman Tom Love says the fiscal review comes as no surprise - he notes the mayor always has pledged to inspect the MLS franchise - and calls the move appropriate.

"We would be totally fine with that," Love said. "It probably indicates there is a strong desire on everybody's part to move this thing along. And we will do everything that is reasonable and prudent to help the process."
But there is at least one problem: The second-year team is nowhere near ready to break ground, which it hoped to do in October, on the stadium planned near 9400 South and State Street.

Earlier this month, RSL abandoned its strategy to snare at least $5 million in redevelopment dollars otherwise slated for the Jordan School District. The move followed a chorus of criticism from teachers and parents, who argued that diverting any future revenue from cash-strapped schools to a sports team was inappropriate.

As a result - and due to lingering questions about construction costs and timelines - Love notes the team has postponed an Oct. 6 open house for at least a month.

"We want to make sure we have a funding plan completely worked out before we go before the public," he said.

Still, Love insists the budget hole created by the yanked school cash is not "a do or die."

"It's one of the bumps in the road, but I'm sure we'll solve it."
Corroon maintains the redevelopment money won't come from the county. "We only have a certain amount," he said. "There is no more."

The county does plan to kick in $40 million in old and new hotel taxes toward the stadium project.

To ensure the RSL money probe does not get political, Willmore says the Debt Review Committee may consider hiring an outside consultant to conduct the review. Such a move, he says, would be faster and "fair-minded."

Mary Ellen Sloan, a deputy DA and acting head of the debt panel, says the body could meet as early as next week to decide how to proceed.

A contentious deal for public funding now behind him, Corroon doesn't want to delay.
"I want to move this forward so we can have a thumbs up or thumbs down," he said. "We assume [RSL] wouldn't be marching forward if they didn't have the wherewithal to do so."

Any goblins haunting the team should be known by Halloween.

djensen@sltrib.com

Stadium plan's main points

* County provides $20 million in previously allotted hotel taxes for parking and related improvements.

* County kicks in $20 million from new hotel taxes, possibly for stadium land.

* Sandy and other taxing entities contribute $15 million in redevelopment funds (at least $5 million of this amount was to come from Jordan School District).

* RSL provides $27.5 million in cash and in-kind contributions, along with a $7.5 million donation toward a youth soccer complex in northwest Salt Lake City.

* The team commits to staying for at least 30 years or facing a $10 million penalty.

* RSL pays for the $100 million stadium itself with private money.