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A member of the Park Metropolis Council on Tuesday indicated he’s not anxious concerning the long-term financial impacts on the neighborhood of the unfold of the novel coronavirus, showing to specific confidence in a speedy enterprise bounce again.
Steve Joyce, a first-term member of the Metropolis Council who not too long ago mentioned he has not determined whether or not he’ll search reelection later in 2021, made the feedback throughout a Metropolis Corridor-hosted on-line occasion.
The occasion coated a collection of points, together with the municipal authorities’s efforts to develop an arts and culture district alongside Bonanza Drive and Kearns Boulevard. Leaders are persevering with a collection of detailed discussions relating to the funding of a district. The Metropolis Corridor portion of the challenge is estimated at $88.4 million.
Joyce mentioned he’s not anxious concerning the coronavirus within the context of the funding of an arts and tradition district.
“Persons are like ‘Oh, gosh, we’re in the midst of COVID. It’s going to tear all the things aside.’ In case you have a look at the best way we fund these items, you already know, once more, they’re 15-year, 20-year initiatives … with a number of phases and 15-year bonds and issues like that,” he mentioned.
He additionally described the financial impression of the illness as being for the brief time period and never as critical as had been projected. Metropolis Corridor is particularly monitoring the impacts on income streams like gross sales taxes.
“So, the concept of 1 blip of one-half 12 months or 12 months or one thing that, from a tax standpoint, hasn’t turned out to be as unhealthy as anybody thought it was going to, that’s not my massive concern,” he mentioned.
Joyce, in the meantime, mentioned he’s most anxious about the remainder of the present ski season. Financial numbers are anticipated to drop throughout the ski season from a typical one, however the severity of the autumn is troublesome to forecast. There have seemed to be upside surprises throughout the early weeks of the ski season, together with a vacation interval that was believed to be stable for the tourism trade.
Different key stretches of the ski season are approaching, although. The Sundance Movie Competition, often an particularly profitable interval, has eliminated all reside venues in Park Metropolis. The financial hit throughout Sundance will seemingly reach into the tens of millions of dollars.
“My largest concern can be simply getting by means of this winter and ensuring that we don’t lose loads of companies, which, proper now, we don’t appear to be on observe to do in any respect, however you by no means know. We’re nonetheless 4 months away,” Joyce mentioned.
The financial impacts have stretched since March, when the unfold of the coronavirus compelled an finish to the 2019-2020 ski season a number of weeks sooner than scheduled. There have been additionally quite a few occasion cancellations in the summertime and fall of 2020. The unemployment charge within the Park Metropolis space spiked in the spring and dropped sharply earlier than not too long ago leveling out at an elevated charge in comparison with latest years.
