With the Salt Lake City Council poised to pass a major tax increase for a proposed downtown sports, entertainment, culture and convention district, some wonder why voters don’t get a say.
Count Rocky Anderson among them. That’s why the former mayor has launched an online petition demanding that the proposed half-a-percentage-point sales tax hike go on this fall’s ballot.
“The public comment period has been a complete sham,” Anderson said in a recent interview, “because there’s been so little information available for the public.”
Here’s the $900 million question: Can the proposed tax go to an election?
The short answer is maybe. The long answer, spelled out below, explains the how and why.
How could the tax be put on the ballot?
If Anderson wants the arena district to go to voters, there are two ways that could happen: If a legislative body — like the City Council — opts on its own to put it on the ballot, or voters force the issue through a petition.
A spokesperson for Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, the state’s chief election officer, said there are only certain issues a local legislative body can refer to the ballot under state code. These include authorized bonds, recreational taxes — such as the zoo, arts and parks tax — and other specific taxes.
Henderson’s office would not specify if the proposed sales tax would fall under state code as a tax that the council could refer to voters.
The spokesperson referred questions to the sponsor of SB272, Sen. Daniel McCay, R-Riverton, to see if that was his intention when he crafted the legislation that allowed for the arena district negotiations.
When contacted, McCay did not address the intent of the law but said resident input is vital.
“Salt Lake City residents are pivotal in this process, presenting a prime opportunity for the city to shape and manage the future of downtown,” he said in a statement Wednesday. “The city worked collaboratively with stakeholders to craft a viable plan within a tight time frame ... Citizens reaching out and engaging with their elected officials is essential and highly encouraged.”
The most likely path
There is one surefire way to get the proposed sales tax on the ballot: After the council passes it — assuming it does — Salt Lake City residents could gather enough signatures to force a vote through a referendum.
Ballot initiatives can also send issues to an election, but referendums are more common with taxation issues, said Cameron Diehl, executive director of the Utah League of Cities and Towns. Initiatives propose new laws, while referendums let voters weigh in on laws that have already been approved.
The process for initiatives and referendums is set at the state level and overseen by the lieutenant governor’s office, but voters who take this route will mostly deal with local government officials as they pursue getting an issue on a ballot.
The state’s website, vote.utah.gov, outlines 11 steps that petitioners must follow.
First, within seven days of the council’s decision, five sponsors would have to submit a referendum application to the city clerk. The city would then have 20 days to analyze the application and determine if the referendum can legally be referred to voters.
The city and the referendum sponsors would have time in this period to prepare their arguments for a voter information pamphlet. The city and organizers could also reach a compromise during this time, leading petitioners to withdraw the referendum.
If the parties don’t reach a deal, and the issue is determined by the government as ballot-worthy, the process could move forward.
In Salt Lake City, the referendum’s sponsors would need to amass nearly 7,200 signatures from across the city, or 7.5% of the city’s active voters, according to the lieutenant governor’s office.
Once the clerk verifies the signatures, the issue could go to a vote in the general election.
As of Wednesday, Anderson’s online petition — which is not an official bid to put the proposed sports district tax hike on the ballot — had close to 1,000 backers.
The council is scheduled to vote on an agreement for the sports district at its July 9 meeting. If the plan passes, it will be sent to the Legislature’s Capital City Revitalization Commission for a final review — the last step before the plan is sent back to the city in August for either additional negotiation or a vote on the proposed sales tax.
