Summit County is on track to meet its projected sales tax revenue goals despite the Wasatch Back’s light winter and a noticeable dip in visitor numbers. The County Council in recent years has pivoted to a focus on sales tax rather than property tax to shift the burden of funding government ser vices to tourists instead of homeowners. As a result, voters authorized a 0.5% emergency services sales tax in 2024, and the County Council implemented an additional 1.1% sales tax under the Impacted Communities Taxes Act last year. Now, the sales tax rate in unincorporated Summit County is 8.75% compared to 9.55% in Park City and 7.65% in the county’s other municipalities. County Finance Officer Matt Leavitt, during the last budget cycle, predicted the county would earn approximately $34.5 million in sales tax revenues in 2026. Leavitt, in a presentation to the County Council last week, said the county has collected 25% of the $34.5 million so far, meaning the county is on track to meet its projected goals. “In all honesty, I was hoping we would be a little bit higher than that, primarily because the majority of our revenue comes in those four or five months of the ski season, so I would have hoped we would have been closer to about 30% of our budgeted revenues,” Leavitt said. He attributed the lower revenue to the difficult winter season at the ski resorts, as well as a continuing downward trend in the number of visitors coming to Summit County and how long they stay. “There could be a number of factors that can be attributed to that,” Leavitt said. “You’re looking at the economy overall and how much (disposable income) people have … to go and vacation. They’re cutting their trips shorter, spending less time because of their disposable income.” Leavitt said the county had 4.5 million visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 5.7 million people coming to Summit County at the height of its post-pandemic boom in 2022. Last year, though, the county saw 4.9 million visitors, a 14% decrease compared to 2022. Tourists also stay for shorter periods of time than in previous years, according to Leavitt. During the pandemic, visitors averaged 487 minutes in Summit County compared to 347 minutes in 2026, or a 28.7% decrease. Summit County Councilor Tonja Hanson, who spent her career in marketing and sales for the area’s ski resorts, said the change reflected a national travel industry trend of people booking shorter vacations. “I’m pleasantly surprised because friends of mine who are in the retail industry and lodging industry were reporting double digits down throughout the winter in occupancy,” Hanson said, referring to the sales tax revenues earned thus far. County Councilor Megan McKenna asked Leavitt if he thought county staff would recommend a property tax increase later this year as a result of the diminished sales tax returns. Leavitt said an increase is always a possibility, but he did not indicate whether the County Council will actually see a proposal from county staff. “We’re going to continue to monitor the sales taxes and sales tax revenues as well as these other indicators,” he said. “We are watching these things, and if we need to come back and go through certain processes in order to adjust our county operations accordingly, then we’re ready to do that.” The post Summit County on track to meet sales tax revenue goal despite difficult winter season appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less