Biskupski asks Herbert for help on inland port - even after he signs the bill

Brice Wallace

Having struck out at the Legislature, Salt Lake City’s mayor has turned to the executive branch of state government to get relief from an inland port bill.

Jackie Biskupski was scheduled to meet last week with Gov. Gary Herbert about SB234, passed during the recent general legislative session and creating the Utah Inland Port authority to oversee development of Northwest Quadrant property west of Salt Lake City International Airport. The mayor and city council members have criticized the bill, saying it “usurps local control and undercuts the city’s land use authority.”

In a news release before meeting with the governor, Biskupski said the meeting was designed to “create a true partnership with the state on the Inland Port Authority.” The meeting occurred before The Enterprise’s press time. Last week, Biskupski urged residents to ask Herbert to veto the bill, but he had indicated he would sign it.

“Gov. Herbert’s call is a positive development,” Biskupski said of the governor’s call to arrange the meeting. “The city is eager to create a path forward and return to working with the state in good faith.”

Sponsored by Sen. Jerry W. Stevenson, R-Layton, SB234 creates the inland port authority, establishes a board to govern the authority, and empowers the authority to establish an inland port and a foreign trade zone in an area that includes the Northwest Quadrant, an area that city officials had its own plans to develop. Biskupski was wary of the bill before it was introduced and critical after it was.

The bill was altered a few times during the legislative session, including shrinking the size of the authority property to 20,000 acres. The original version also had nine voting members, including two board members appointed by the Salt Lake City mayor and one appointed by the Salt Lake City Council. The final version has 11 voting members, retaining the council appointment and including the chair of the airport advisory board.

Biskupski derided the bill’s “unelected governing board” empowered to “take up to 100 percent of new property tax revenues that could be spent on anything and anywhere, including outside of Salt Lake City boundaries.”

The mayor said the board could take control of $360 million in new property tax revenues from Salt Lake City, $581 million from the Salt Lake City School District and $84 million from Salt Lake City libraries. The total of $1.424 billion is at stake if all taxing entities are included, she said.

Before meeting with Herbert, Biskupski said in a radio interview that one option would be to have the city contract with the state on the inland port. She also hinted that the city could file a lawsuit.