Salt Lake City residents fume over Delta Center district survey, but neither city nor Smith funded it

Residents say they are upset with the wording of a mysterious survey about a proposed sales tax increase tied to Smith Entertainment Group’s agreement with Salt Lake City over a “sports, entertainment, culture and convention district.”

However, the two entities at the center of the deal say they are not associated with the survey, and they aren't sure who commissioned it.

Several residents reported receiving texts from a representative of a survey, who wrote that "local leaders" were partnering with Y2 Analytics and Clear Insights — a pair of Utah-based market research firms — to "gather opinions on local issues affecting you."

The message ended with a link to a survey that heavily focused on the proposed sports, entertainment, culture and convention district, a proposed agreement between Salt Lake City and Smith Entertainment Group over a plan to remodel the Delta Center so it can handle the Utah Jazz and the Utah Hockey Club moving forward.

The agreement would also set up major changes to the two blocks east of the arena, but a 0.5% sales tax increase over 30 years is proposed to help Smith repay up to $900 million in bonds that would be used to cover project costs.

The survey asked residents whether they supported various parts of the project. One question that caught the most attention discussed the ramifications of a failed agreement and ended up on Reddit Sunday evening .

It reads: "If the project does not move forward, the Utah Jazz and Utah Hockey Club will relocate, causing a massive blow to the city's economy. Downtown Salt Lake could turn into Detroit where companies stopped investing in the city — businesses leave, jobs disappear, poverty and homelessness run rampant and the city becomes an empty shell of itself.

"How important, if at all, is this consideration to you and your opinion about the project and proposed sales tax increase?" it continues.

The person who took the screenshot accused the question wording as "fearmongering." Others blasted Salt Lake City or Smith Entertainment Group for trying to push forward the agreement despite concerns that may still exist.

However, neither the city nor the company are behind the survey.

A spokesperson for the Salt Lake City Mayor's Office told KSL.com they are aware of the online rumblings but added the city didn't commission it. Salt Lake City Council members, who will vote on whether to approve any sales tax by the end of this year, say they were not aware of the survey, either.

"We have also learned of a survey being distributed in partnership with 'local leaders' about the (sports, entertainment, culture and convention district). The council was not involved in any (district) surveys," the City Council wrote in a statement on Monday.

A spokesperson for Smith Entertainment Group told KSL-TV that the company isn't behind the survey either. They said that the company only learned about the survey Monday morning, as chatter about it poured online.

KSL.com reached out to Y2 Analytics, which confirmed that the survey is "legitimate" and was sponsored by a "private client." The company declined to name the client but confirmed the client is not associated with either Salt Lake City or Smith Entertainment Group.

Quin Monson, a partner at Y2 Analytics, explained that the survey is tied to a message testing study that the client is gathering information on. The survey intentionally offers strongly worded questions to gauge how effective the question is "in each direction."

A randomized group of registered voters ended up receiving links to the survey, but not everyone may have received the same survey. The order of responses may not be the same either.

For instance, KSL.com clicked on a survey link provided by a city resident and found the same question wording as the Reddit screenshot. However, the answers to the question were in reverse order, starting with "not important at all" down to "extremely important."

"We're not only sending the survey to a random sample of voters, but not all of the sample voters are getting all of the messages," he said. "You're trying to simulate an information environment in the context of a short survey by delivering messages as they might be delivered by proponents or opponents and different sides of an issue. ... It's the best you can simulate (an) information environment."

It's not uncommon for leaked message testing polls to create chaos. American Association For Public Opinion Research published a paper breaking down the difference in testing practices, writing that message testing surveys "are sometimes the subject of public controversy in political campaigns and may appear in press stories about dubious campaign practices."

While Monson wouldn't say who is collecting this information or why they launched the survey, Salt Lake City leaders said Monday there's another way residents can provide feedback as the city nears a finalization of the contract.

The City Council will hold a third public hearing on the participation agreement on Oct. 1. Information from the meeting will be used before a vote to complete the contract and potentially adopt the 0.5% sales tax increase.

"We continue to work hard to make the best decision for our community and want to reassure you that openness and transparency are central to everything we do as a council," the council added in its statement on Monday. "Our focus remains on providing clear, objective information and acting in the best interest of Salt Lake City residents, including preserving public benefits."

The update comes a week after Utah's Revitalization Zone Committee voted to approve the proposed deal with some stipulations, including a provision recommending that the Abravanel Hall concert venue be preserved.

The city has until the end of the year to adopt or reject the sales tax increase.

Contributing: Lindsay Aerts