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Olympic advantages

Salt Lake mayoral candidate wants to raise taxes

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Posted: Tuesday August 10, 1999 03:17 PM

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The city that gave the Olympics its worst ethics scandal is now faced with a mayoral candidate who wants to raise taxes "shamelessly high" to take advantage of visitors to the Winter Games.

Jim Bradley, considered a frontrunner in the 13-person race for the job that carries the title of official Olympic host, said in a recent debate that there was nothing wrong with municipal gouging of the hundreds of thousands of people who will come to the city for the games in 2002.

"The hotel transient room tax has to be jacked up as high as we can possibly do it," Bradley said. "We have to raise the car rental tax as high as we can possibly do it -- even shamelessly high - to generate revenue. ... We have to look at opportunities like that to just screw 'em."

Taxpayers are concerned that they might be stuck with paying off any debts remaining from the Salt Lake Games' $1.34 billion budget, which is supposed to be privately financed. But Bradley's opponents bristled at his comments, saying it sent the wrong message to potential visitors.

"This isn't a place to come and get fleeced," candidate Dave Jones said. "I felt it was insensitive. I thought it was a very poor message to send to the public."

Bradley, a former Democratic county commissioner who lost the governor's race to Republican Mike Leavitt in 1996, said he wished he had more time to phrase his impromptu response at the debate. But he stood behind his comment and said he was the only candidate with the guts to take a commonsense stand.

"It's not a mean-spirited idea. It's not a bad idea. It is a good idea that saves money for the citizens of Salt Lake," he said. "All I'm looking for are ways that the city's not left holding the bag."

Others running for the job being vacated by two-term Democrat Deedee Corradini disagreed.

Stuart Reid, a mayoral candidate and director of the city's Department of Community and Economic Development, was uneasy not only with the sentiment, but with the way Bradley expressed it.

"Our goal is to encourage people to come and visit our city, not find a way to stick it to them," said Reid, who did not participate in the Aug. 1 debate sponsored by the Unitarian Church. "I think that is an inappropriate response and inappropriate language for a mayoral candidate."

Candidate Mike Zuhl, who was at the debate, also questioned Bradley's remark.

"We need to host the world in a responsible manner and I don't think we should be gouging those coming to the games," he said. "I'm not sure that that's the way we want to treat guests."

Even Ross "Rocky" Anderson, who agreed that raising tourist taxes could be considered as one way to pay for Olympics costs, called Bradley's language "entirely inappropriate."

Bradley said minor tax hikes, like a $10 increase in room taxes, won't keep visitors from attending the games.

"Is that the deal killer for you? Heavens no. You'll pay it, and you'll probably pay it and say, "Boy, at least it's not as expensive as Barcelona was,'" he said.

Salt Lake Organizing Committee spokesman Frank Zang said the anticipated 70,000 visitors per day to the city will generate their own economic benefits for the city.

The candidates agree the city should first look at convincing the Utah Legislature to return some of the additional state sales tax generated by Olympic visitors to the venue cities that paid for services like transportation and public safety to stage the games.

Bradley is considered among the four leading contenders for the city's top job. The two biggest vote-getters in October's primary will face off in the November general election.

Corradini, who was mayor when Salt Lake won the games in 1995, announced last year that she would not seek reelection. Her announcement came at the height of the scandal over the million-dollar program run by Salt Lake bidders to win the votes of International Olympic Committee members. Corradini has not been implicated in the scandal.

 

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