Park City’s May sales taxes were down almost $295,000, or about 16%, compared to 2025.
But city senior financial and data analyst Robbie Smoot told the Park City Council Aug. 13 the drop isn’t as bad as it looks. He said that’s because the tax commission sometimes includes early payments or funds from prior years if someone was audited.
“Last year, more specifically, there was a lot of June revenue that was included in the May distribution, which wasn't the case this year,” he said.
The staff report suggested a more accurate estimate would put May sales taxes down only about 3%.
City Manager Adam Lenhard told KPCW May is historically the city’s lowest month, representing about 4% of annual sales tax revenue.
He instead sees resiliency in the May numbers. The unseasonably warm winter led to low sales tax numbers in March and April. Now Lenhard says things are leveling out.
“It reflects the resiliency of our local economy, though we still have ongoing concerns,” Lenhard said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Aug. 12. “Citywide fiscal year ‘26 to date, we're down about 4.2%.”
Lenhard said transient room taxes from hotel stays and short-term rentals were signs of encouragement.
“In terms of TRT, this May was one of probably the highest we've had in a number of years,” he said.
The staff report says visitation numbers also indicate sales tax numbers are stabilizing heading into the summer months.
Park City Municipal is a financial supporter of KPCW.
