On Thursday the Park City Council unanimously gave direction to add $300,000 for the child care program in next fiscal year’s budget (council member Jeremy Rubell was excused from the meeting).
Funding for the program, which has garnered national recognition, was set to expire at the end of 2025. The new money will allow it to continue into 2026.
According to data presented at Thursday’s meeting, over 100 children are enrolled in the program. Most of the participating families live in the Wasatch Back.
To qualify, families must earn less than 100% of Summit County’s area median income, which roughly translates to an annual income of $150,000 for a family of four.
Park City Mayor Nann Worel said she was proud that enrollment in the state’s child care assistance program has increased.
Park City made it a requirement for families to utilize the existing state subsidy before they could qualify for the city’s program.
Participation in the Department of Workforce Services child care assistance program nearly doubled in 2024. 64% of the new enrollments last year were also participating in the city’s program.
Child care affordability and accessibility is a national problem, but it’s especially acute in Park City, where most workers commute from outside of town.
Councilmember Ryan Dickey said he was initially skeptical of the program, but has found it to be a success.
“This is just really part of our housing problem,” Dickey said. “The same policies that we have to preserve our small town character that say we’re not going to build - we don’t want to be high density - that means people can’t live here.”
The council plans to discuss the child care program further in an upcoming work session.
More information about Park City’s assistance program can be found here.
Park City Municipal is a financial supporter of KPCW.
