As the Utah Legislature recently met in special session, relooking at the state’s budget after only three months, a major question for the Park City Chamber/Bureau was the state’s tourism marketing dollars.
Chamber Director Bill Malone brought us up to speed in his latest visit with KPCW.
Malone said the actions of the lawmakers left the tourism dollars pretty much at the same level—some $24 million.
“The Legislature went back in and looked at that $24 million and basically re-allocated about $12 million of that for other uses, and then back-filled that $12 million with $12 million of CARES funding that the state is allocating now. So it was basically a wash, in terms of the 12-out, 12-in, and still at the $24 million level. And obviously, it’s something that the Legislature and the Governor feels that’s important from an economic recovery standpoint.”
He said the Park City Chamber/Bureau is asking for about $275,000—the same amount they’ve received previously. Whatever funds they get, he said it has to be spent by the end of the calendar year.
On some related news, Malone said the Legislature set up several entities that can help out non-profits or small business.
“With GOED, there’s a $25 million impacted-business grant program for non-profits and small businesses. There’s a cultural-assistance grant program that just came out of the Legislature for $9 million. There’s PPE support for another $5 million for small businesses. So there’s a variety of tools that are being rolled out from these legislative sessions to help small businesses.”
Park City Chamber/Bureau Executive Director Bill Malone.
