County Council Approves Airport TRAX Funding Agreement

Aug 06, 2008 by Jeff Robinson

(KCPW News) Salt Lake County will now give up $2 to Salt Lake City of every $10 fee it levies on vehicle registrations. The money will go toward the airport TRAX line. The move was formally approved by the county council yesterday, after the state legislature mandated the county do so during the legislative session. But some council members weren't happy they weren't asked their opinion about it before city leaders and state lawmakers negotiated the fee transfer.

"Wouldn't it have been more prudent as a part of the negotiation on this contract ... to include the county, to make sure that we're on board? I mean, you guys negotiated this without us," said Councilman Joe Hatch.

Hatch said it was "bizarre" that Salt Lake City and Republican legislators negotiated the deal without the county's involvement. He pointed out that all $10 dollars the county gets for each vehicle registration were originally supposed to go to road maintenance, but now the money is split three ways, because part of it goes toward the proposed MountainView Corridor as well.

Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker responded by saying the deal was negotiated quickly toward the very end of the legislative session - all because legislators yanked airport revenues away from the city as a source of funding for the TRAX line.

"We had a source of funding within Salt Lake City to pay for this. The legislature decided to pull that source of funding away from the city, and we worked with them to find an alternative source, and this was the source they selected and directed," he said.

In all, Salt Lake City has to pay $35 million dollars to help fund the TRAX line to the airport. The $2 dollars it gets from the county for every vehicle registration will count toward that amount.

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