The entertainment district plan has received input from the Utah Taxpayer’s Association

Salt Lake City, Utah – The arrival of the NHL team has excited many Utahns, which has given officials more hope that Salt Lake City’s downtown revitalization project will be financially viable.

Parker Winters, a local sports fan, is all in favor of Utah playing host to an NHL team. He asserted that it’s clear that others are as well. He tried to go to the team meet and greet on April 24, but he had to watch from the sidelines because of the large number of people.

“Every seat was filled. And unfortunately or fortunately, thousands of people had to watch the event on the plaza,” said SEG spokesman Mike Maughan.

Speaking Tuesday before the city council, Maughan defended Salt Lake City’s proposal to raise the sales tax by half a percent, which SEG and its partners are referring to as “a community investment.”

“The tax is looking to create $1.2 billion over the 30-year period,” Maughan said.

Rusty Cannon, president of the Utah Tax Association, responded as follows when asked about the planned tax hike and if he believed it would be a worthwhile investment: “With any stadium deal, some are different. Some are pretty egregious and some are well thought out.”

The group’s president, Cannon, noted that the proposals appear to be well-thought out in regards to public spending.

“Thankfully, lawmakers in Utah and local officials have been pretty thoughtful on the hockey stadium so far,” he said.

Aside from the sales tax, Cannon said that SEG’s pledge to contribute its own funds to the project is noteworthy, adding to the project’s early and obvious popular support.

“We all saw the turnout on season ticket deposits. Who would have thought hockey was so positive?” he said.

Cannon calls for decision-makers to be transparent and for taxpayers to pay attention when more information about the entire plan becomes available.

SEG stated that they are willing to contribute up to $3 billion to the project. Additionally, the maximum amount of public funds that SEG is able to use for developments is $900 million.

According to representatives of Smith Entertainment Group, Utah’s new NHL franchise’s final team name won’t be revealed until “well into the first season.”

SEG is anticipated to post a survey sometime on Wednesday or Thursday, requesting Utah’s assistance in selecting the new team’s name.