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Originally Posted by Orlando
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There are 3 groups that are protesting the Inland Port.
1st: Environmentalists - They worry about the increase in truck traffic and the negative impact it will have on the air quality. They also worry about possible wetlands and bird migration impacts.
2nd: Tax Watchdogs - Their main complaint is the Port Authority gets to keep any and all property tax value increases within the port area. These increases are generally used to help pay for upkeep around the location of the increase and assist with paying for City services (Fire, Police, Snow Removal, etc.) and Public Schools. This is less of an issue regarding the City services as the SLC Council negotiated with the Port Authority that the Authority will contract the services within SLC Boundaries from SLC directly since it is within the City. This left the impact to the Public Schools and the General Fund for the City. The General Fund impact is the primary reason for the Mayor's lawsuit.
3rd: Overreach - This groups primary protest reason is that the Inland Port and Port Authority was created by the State and took land from an existing City. This group also complains that the State took the project away from the City because of the Politics of the City not matching that of the State. They feel that if SLC was lead by Republicans, the State wouldn't have stepped in to "Do it the right way" as the Legislature stated.
Overall though, I live a few miles away from the Inland Port area and feel that regardless of who controls it, it will be a benefit to the Cities economy and can further attract development downtown.
Also, as the Port Authority can only claim the increase in property taxes, the City will see an even larger increase to the General Fund due to the increase in sales tax due to the transactions and additional workers.
Hopefully this helps.