Please Just Tell It Like It Is… The Citizens of Park City and Summit County are Paying For Our Leaders’ Trips to Switzerland

In Wednesday’s Park Record, an article discusses Summit County and Park City officials going to Switzerland to learn about trains and gondolas. While we are sure we’ll have more to say about that, what really irks right now is a statement attributed to Park City Councilman Andy Beerman. The Park Record says, “The cost [of the trip] was not known at the meeting. Beerman said it is likely the Mountain Accord will pay most or all of the cost.”

Oh, thank god! At least our tax dollars won’t be used to fund this trip.

Wait. What’s that you say? The Mountain Accord was funded by Summit County and Park City governments, using citizen tax dollars? It can’t be true.

Unfortunately, it is. Park City agreed to contribute $100,000 and Summit County also agreed to contribute $100,000 to Mountain Accord. The State of Utah also agreed to contribute $2.5 Million (through UDOT).If we recall the discussions that were happening at the time, we were told that Summit County needed to contribute money to “get a seat at the table.” It looks like they also needed to contribute to get a seat on the Jungfraubahn Railway.

So, please just tell us the truth. Tell us that Summit County and Park City residents are springing for this. Don’t try to make it sound like the trip is being funded by some benevolent organization like “Mountain Accord.” When we hear that, it just makes it seem all the more fishy.