A warm winter that led to the early closure of ski resorts and a decline in tax revenue from seasonal tourism were among the factors that made fiscal 2026 challenging for Park City Municipal. 

Another challenge will be in January with the loss of the Sundance Film Festival, which has moved to Boulder, Colorado, after being hosted in Park City for decades.

The impact of reduced visitation and shortened ski operations was reflected in the March 2026 drop of sales tax distribution. The distribution — excluding lodging taxes, which are called the transient room tax — came in nearly 20% below the same period in fiscal 2025. Transient room tax collections dropped 17.3% compared to March 2025.

And the effects of the weak winter system extended into spring activity more than anticipated, according to a July staff report on April sales tax. Transient room taxes were down 31.8% and citywide sales tax, excluding the transient room tax, was down 5.1% compared to April 2025. 

Despite the challenges, Park City Manager Adam Lenhard said the city remains in an “exceptionally strong” financial position in fiscal 2027, which began July 1. 

The City Council adopted an overall fiscal 2027 budget, which includes capital projects of about $235 million, on June 25. Nearly $56 million of that amount is in the general fund, which pays for city services and personnel expenses. 

The overall fiscal 2026 budget was a little more than $304 million, with about $55 million in the general fund.

The city updated its fiscal 2027 sales tax projections to reflect current conditions and to base the budget on realistic expectations, Lenhard said in a written statement outlining budget highlights.

He said the general fund has a reserve near the 35% ceiling allowed under state law, which provides a resilient buffer that helps the city weather economic fluctuations without compromising essential services. 

In response to evolving economic conditions, the municipality is taking proactive steps to ensure continuing delivery of excellent public service, Lenhard said. 

Those steps include redirecting resources once dedicated to public safety, transportation and event management during Sundance to broader community services and year-round priorities.

In addition, the city is eliminating several contingency line items and redirecting $4.9 million of resort tax revenue into the general fund to support immediate community needs without raising taxes or impacting service levels.

The reallocation of the tax revenue was possible because after years of strong performance and successful grant leveraging, the transportation fund’s net position grew from $47.3 million in fiscal year 2021 to $88.7 million in fiscal year 2025 and the general fund no longer requires the same level of resort tax support, the statement says. 

“Together, these initiatives help protect the services residents depend on — snow removal, transit, public safety, parks and recreation, and public works maintenance — while supporting ongoing financial sustainability,” Lenhard’s statement said.

The city will continue monitoring economic trends closely and adjusting as necessary, he said.

“This budget positions Park City to remain resilient and focused on the future,” Lenhard said. “We will continue monitoring economic trends closely and adjusting as needed, while delivering reliable services, strengthening our community assets, and investing in the people who live, work and visit here.” 

The fiscal 2027 budget has raises for the mayor, who now earns $66,683.62 per year, up from $55,209, and for the five members of the City Council, who are paid $34,373 annually, up from $28,520. The compensation was scaled back significantly from what the council supported with a 4-1 vote originally.

The budget includes major community investments, including affordable housing at Clark Ranch; a new senior center; the Bonanza Park 5-acre site mixed-use development; expanded childcare scholarships; more support for local arts and culture; and improvements to bus stops, recreation facilities and historic sites. 

The budget has reserve funds that can be used for qualifying city expenses, not only emergencies, said Penny Frates, the city’s assistant budget director. A fund balance is commonly used to make up for shorter-term revenue shortfalls, economic downturns and one-time expenses, she said. 

“Some entities accumulate and utilize fund balance with a specific purpose, such as acquiring a particular parcel or funding an initiative,” Frates said. “Some one-time examples may be a new city vehicle or a one-time project, such as updating the general plan.”

The city was prepared to use a fund balance as an option during COVID, but Frates said it was not necessary. The net balance of the general fund has increased each year from 2016 to 2025, so those reserve funds have not been used, she said.

At the end of fiscal 2025, the general fund balance was $18.3 million and $17.4 million that was not earmarked for any specific project, department or unexpected needs. 

Mayor Ryan Dickey also said the Park City economy is resilient and the outlook for 2027 is good.

“However, we are not immune from uncertainty, whether in the broader macroeconomic picture or the local effects of snowfall and weather,” he said. “We budgeted 2027 quite conservatively in light of all these factors.”

The loss of Sundance will have some impact, but Park City has a diverse year-round economy and Dickey said he’s confident in the community’s long-term strength. He pointed out the tourism economy weathered two years without the festival during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also noted it had been decades since the city increased property tax rates. The rise in home valuation over that time has more than kept pace in helping filling the city’s revenue coffers, though most of the city’s tax revenue comes from sales tax. A home in Park City cost on average $139,000 in 1990, according to the Park City Board of Realtors. That rose to $2.8 million on average in 2025-26.

“Overall, the council’s focus is on supporting a resilient, vibrant local economy that relies less on any single source of revenue,” Dickey said. “That said, the city stays open to welcoming new events when they align with our community’s values and goals.”

He cited as examples the new Fox US Open of Mountain Biking coming to Deer Valley Resort in September and Shaun White’s The Snow League coming in January, “both of which reflect the type of organic vibrancy that aligns with our local culture.”

“We are always in conversation with residents about new initiatives and evolving priorities, though what I hear most from Parkites is a desire to keep moving forward on the opportunities before us, and I think the council has done a fantastic job in 2026 of doing just that,” Dickey said.

The post Park City’s financial outlook deemed ‘exceptionally strong’ despite challenges appeared first on Park Record.

The Wasatch County School District could increase its general fund by $11 million for the upcoming fiscal year, without raising property taxes.

The general fund includes expenditures for supplies, textbooks, equipment and professional development, but the biggest piece of the pie is salaries and benefits, which make up about $122 million of the nearly $136 million total. 

All categories of general fund will see some increase in fiscal year 2027.

Some new costs include the school district’s addition of a childcare facility in Deer Creek High School for school district employees to use and increased spending on early literacy programs. The majority of the spending increase, $10 million, will go to salaries and benefits, including 4% raises for employees.

“We have nearly 1,200 employees now. Obviously, our most valuable and most costly resource is our people,” said Business Administrator Jason Watt. “The board has prioritized this in recent years as a way to attract and retain high-quality educators.”

The increase also accounts for new hires at Deer Creek High School, which opens in August. 

While most staffing occurred by divvying up existing Wasatch High School staff between the two schools, some roles necessitated hiring externally. For example, it would be impractical to divide one theater teacher between two high schools. 

Watt said the school district hired eight teachers, as well as custodial and maintenance staff, secretaries, an instructional coach, a librarian, an athletic director, a Hispanic liaison, school resource officers and a nurse.

With the new high school also comes increased spending on transportation, maintenance and utilities. None of that will necessitate an increase in property taxes, which make up about two-thirds of the school district’s budget.

“We have been budgeting for this year for some time,” Watt said. “We are really pleased that we are able to cover those additional costs with existing revenues and will not be approaching the public for additional revenues through the truth in taxation process.”

While general fund expenditures are increasing since the previous fiscal year, the school district will spend less money overall this upcoming fiscal year. The school district spent over $250 million in fiscal year 2026, and estimates spending about $193 million in fiscal year 2027.

The primary reason for that decrease is a reduction in capital project spending. The district spent $111 million last fiscal year — largely to construct Deer Creek High School — and will spend $41 million in the upcoming year.

The school board held a public hearing on June 16, during which two school district employees made comments in support of the budget.

Wasatch High School Assistant Principal Drew Camps Wofford expressed her excitement about Deer Creek High School and the new childcare program while holding her toddler, Scout.

“As a parent, (I’m) super stoked to have kids … in a district where you know that they’re doing the right things to take care of our kids while I’m taking care of other people,” she said.

Wasatch High School agricultural science teacher Kody Clyde thanked the school board for its “continued support and confidence in teachers.”

“I can promise that the teachers will continue to take care of the community’s greatest resource, which is, of course, the students. You will continue to see an increase in student academic performance. I can also assure you that Wasatch will continue to be the best district in the state,” he said. “I personally would like to thank you for my job. I feel so lucky to have the greatest career in the greatest community.”

The school board will meet June 29 at 6:30 p.m. to vote on adopting the budget. The meeting will include an opportunity for public comment.

The post Wasatch County School District to increase spending on salaries, benefits without tax increase appeared first on Park Record.

The Summit County Council was hesitant to agree to proceed with the Truth in Taxation process as a backup option if the emergency services sales tax doesn’t pass, but officials ultimately decided to hedge their bets against an expected multimillion-dollar budget shortfall.

Last month, county councilors announced their intention to pursue a potential tax hike if voters don’t approve the ballot measure. This week’s meeting was simply a formality so staff can start preparing mailers and putting information together for the public at least seven days before the general election on Nov. 5.

Members of the County Council and county staff hope the 0.5% emergency services sales tax will pass, and there will be no need to cut the proposed $90 million budget or raise property taxes to make up the difference in revenue.

County Manager Shayne Scott said there’s a projected $7 million funding gap if the emergency services sales tax does not pass and the county doesn’t pursue Truth in Taxation. 

“We want you to know that getting us to a balanced budget without the emergency services sales tax would be a heavy lift. We just want you to know that’s an activity that’s going to be very, very challenging for us,” he said on Wednesday.

Scott presented a list of possible service and program reductions, including $2 million for new positions; up to $1.2 million for a mental wellness program; $1.2 million in cost of living adjustments; $900,000 in merit increases; up to $600,000 for school resource officers; $300,000 for planning on the 910 Cattle Ranch and Ure Ranch properties; $280,000 for dependent care assistance; $250,000 for a regional housing authority; $100,000 for expanding the senior citizen program; and $100,000 for a Recorder’s Office program. 

“We could technically go through a process of instructing the school district that instead of SROs, they would need to do a guardian program. It’s not as simple as arming teachers, as some people say, but it’s an employee,” he said. “That person would need to be trained by the Sheriff’s Office. So there would be some costs incurred in that. I think the sheriff has made it clear that is not the way he recommends that we go.”

Scott also suggested a hiring freeze to save money, but the total amount would depend on employee turnover and he said it could become problematic.

County staff previously said property taxes would need to be raised by around 81% to generate the same revenue that would be created by the emergency services sales tax. However, Chief Finance Officer Matt Leavitt explained only a partial year would be collected in 2025 — putting the revenue at $7 million.

Property taxes now only need to be raised about 40% if the emergency services sales tax fails. The impact on a property owner would be approximately $15.25 per $100,000 of taxable value based on the 2024 numbers. Leavitt said that is not the same as market value. The average home in Summit County is valued at more than $2 million. Officials speculated the average homeowner would see an increase of around $300 in the first year.

“We’ve been talking about an 81% increase to the general fund that was to make up the entire amount that we are trying to generate with the emergency services sales tax,” Scott said. “So the 81% was kind of a worst-case scenario, and we didn’t know exactly how much we would get.”

Scott and Leavitt presented a $90 million budget to the County Council last week, which was balanced assuming either the emergency services sales tax goes through or officials pursue Truth in Taxation. 

The proposed budget is about $7 million larger than last year’s. That’s even after the budget committee made $10 million in cuts, meaning many requests will be pushed off until 2026.

The $89.5 million total for next year includes $49.9 million in the General Fund, $32.7 million in the Municipal Services Fund and $7.2 million in the Assessing and Collecting Fund. It doesn’t include 20 requests for full-time positions, ramping up senior services, funding for housing or master planning other than $250,000 allocated for the regional housing authority or the remodel of the County Courthouse in Coalville.

Around 65% of Summit County’s revenue in 2025 is projected to come from property taxes, about $35 million, and sales taxes, almost $17 million. 

The actual decision to raise taxes doesn’t have to be made until December, so officials have plenty of time to withdraw from Truth in Taxation if they choose, similar to last year.

Summit County has not raised tax rates since 2017. The state recommends local governments go through the process at least every five years to avoid large increases in the municipal services and general funds. Those pay for about 90% of county operations, such as operating ambulances, road maintenance, community development and planning, the library and public health.

“Since we did it in 2017, we had a pandemic, and we avoided it during that period of time. Coming out of the pandemic and the inflation that we were facing, and everything else, we’ve done all kinds of things to avoid Truth in Taxation. I think now is the time to do it, to at least put it on the table, preserve the ability to do that if we have a shortfall as we go through this budget process and decide what the needs ultimately are,” County Councilor Roger Armstrong said. 

He and the other county councilors were clear they don’t want to raise taxes, but many factors are contributing to the potential increase.

“So, this is not about improving the budget. We may disagree. We may come back and not ask you to cut $6.5 million, but we may ask you to cut two or three or some number, and we’ll see what that leaves at the end of the day. But I think that it’s probably incumbent upon us, and responsible of us to at least tee this up,” Armstrong said. 

The emergency services sales tax is equivalent to one penny for every two dollars spent. Gas, groceries, prescription medications and a few other items are exempt.

More than 65% of the sales tax would be paid for by nonresidents. Visitors create 40% of the solid waste in the county and are responsible for 50% of fire department calls and 90% of search-and-rescue reports.

County staff sees the 0.5% tax as a way to reduce the impact on local residents and force tourists to pay their fair share.

If the emergency services sales tax doesn’t pass, there will be tax hearings on Dec. 4 and 11. Budget discussions will occur throughout December. Officials have until the end of the year to approve the 2025 budget.

The post How much would Summit County property taxes increase if sales tax fails? appeared first on Park Record.

Summit County’s 2025 budget is estimated to reach around $90 million, which is a $7 million increase over last year and about $10 million less than what was originally requested.

County Manager Shayne Scott and Chief Finance Officer Matt Leavitt kicked off the budgeting process this week with a presentation detailing staff’s recommendations for next year. 

Requests from county departments increased by more than $17 million between 2024 and 2025, and Scott said it was difficult to trim the overall programming to create a balanced budget — which the county claims it achieved.

The $89.5 million total for 2025 includes $49.9 million in the General Fund, $32.7 million in the Municipal Services Fund and $7.2 million in the Assessing and Collecting Fund. It doesn’t include 20 requests for full-time positions, ramping up senior services, funding for housing or master planning other than $250,000 allocated for the regional housing authority or the remodel of the County Courthouse in Coalville.

“I don’t want to use the word ugly, but I’m going to: As ugly as the budget maybe looks this year, it was potentially much,much worse. I wanted to put that in the back of your minds that fiscal year ’26 is potentially going to be similar,” Scott said.

Funding for many programs or services was pushed off until 2026, when a full year of emergency services sales tax funding can be generated. For example, the hiring of an operations captain in the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, plus dozens of other positions and facility improvements were delayed.

Scott explained many people think an increased budget means expenses and spending are too high. However, he said that isn’t necessarily a bad thing if there is enough revenue to support it. 

“When we talk about budgets going up, there are often associated revenues with those budgets. A good example of that, to me, is the Bike Share. We took on the Bike Share a couple years ago. The Bike Share came with the revenue side as well, so your budget will increase. We have hundreds of thousands of dollars in an increase in expenses because of the Bike Share program. We also have hundreds of thousands of dollars of increase in revenue,” Scott said.

The budget increase from last year is also associated with new commitments the county has made. 

These include acquiring property and facilities such as the Skullcandy headquarters and funding the Ure Ranch acquisition; the remodel of the Justice Center and Public Works facilities; hiring school resource officers and other school safety amendments; renegotiation of the mental health services contract; the public defender cost for criminal court cases such as Kouri Richins; the possibility of owning and maintaining the Rail Trail; coordinating with the Utah Department of Transportation to address traffic in Kimball Junction; and supporting child care services.

“There’s a lot going on,” Leavitt said. “There’s a certain requirement on the county staff and on behalf of the county in order to keep up. So when the county tries to keep up, there’s a related expense to that.”

The budget committee also recommended a 3.3% cost of living adjustment for county staff to aid in recruitment and retention efforts. Less than 60% of Summit County employees live in the community, a nearly 10% decrease from 2011.

Officials are even considering changes to benefits such as sick leave, bringing a dog or child to work, and remote or hybrid employment.

Around 65% of Summit County’s revenue in 2025 is projected to come from property taxes, about $35 million, and sales taxes, almost $17 million. 

About $7 million would be generated through the new emergency services sales tax if that passed in the general election Nov. 5. Leavitt said that’s because collections would be for a partial year rather than a full year. Between $15 to $17 million could be generated starting in 2026.

Officials see the emergency services sales tax as a way to mitigate the estimated $12 million impact from visitors on county services. Summit County voters will decide whether to approve the 0.5% sales tax. 

If they don’t, the County Courthouse intends to go through Truth in Taxation to raise property taxes by up to 81% to make up the shortfall. Otherwise, officials would have to reduce county services if there isn’t enough revenue to cover the expenses.

“We obviously have significant impacts to our community because of visitors. While that’s an important part of our economy, and we appreciate that and embrace it and try to grow it every year, it’s also something that impacts us in the budget, and it’s significant, and it’s been ramped up since COVID, and it’s something we’re trying to mitigate,” Scott said.

Summit County has not raised tax rates since 2017. Still, officials will not pursue Truth in Taxation if the emergency services sales tax passes. 

However, County Councilor Chris Robinson advocated for smaller increases in the future to start a pattern of reviewing the tax rate annually. Chair Malena Stevens agreed.

“As the level of service becomes more expensive … then the quality of the service within our county will degrade if we keep funding at the same. The other option is that we could decrease the level of service that we’re providing as a community and go to more basic services,” she said. “But I think if we’re not going to be willing to raise property taxes incrementally or to address that issue through what’s considered to be the most stable funding source, we may be looking at that into the future.”

A public meeting regarding the Truth in Taxation process was scheduled for Wednesday. Notices about the potential tax increase will be mailed out to property owners at least seven days before the November election. 

If the emergency services sales tax doesn’t pass, there will be tax hearings on Dec. 4 and 11. Budget discussions will continue into December. Officials have until the end of the year to approve the 2025 budget.

The post Summit County proposes $90 million balanced budget as funding requests rise appeared first on Park Record.