SWEETWATER COUNTY – Many events that were planned to take place at the Sweetwater Events Complex in the coming months have been canceled due to COVID-19 Coronavirus concerns, causing the events complex to lose out on a lot of expected revenue.
During Tuesday’s county commissioner meeting, Larry Lloyd, Sweetwater Events Complex Executive Director, asked the commissioners for a $200,000 loan. This loan will help cover the costs of operation and payroll for the next few months.
According to Larry Lloyd, the events complex is not sure they will be able to host the annual Sweetwater County Fair. Larry said the latest word from Governor Mark Gordon’s office is that 4-H activities will be restricted to online.
“We don’t believe, at this particular moment, that we’re going to be able to put the fair on,” Larry said.
While Commissioners Wally Johnson, Roy Lloyd, and Chairman Randy “Doc” Wendling voted to approve the loan, Commissioner Jeff Smith abstained from voting. Commissioner Lauren Schoenfeld was absent.
Lloyd said the events complex has about $230,000 in reserves, and they are trying not to spend any money on projects. They have laid off all seasonal employees, but have not had to lay off full-time employees.
Their main goal is to keep all of their full-time personnel employed, Larry said.
The loan is to be paid back by November 1, once the tax anticipation loan comes in.
Bonnie Berry, Sweetwater County Accounting Manager, said the events complex should be getting revenue from sales tax payments in about 20 days. However, she didn’t know if this was enough for them to get by or not. Commissioner Smith asked how much revenue they expect to receive.
Lloyd said they are expecting about $1.16 million in sales tax revenue, but about $930,000 of that will go toward a loan repayment. He said he would not be asking for a loan if he thought they could get by with the remaining money from the sales tax revenue.
With COVID-19 causing disruptions in every sector of the economy, Lloyd noted that it is an odd year for the events complex, but they hope to be back to normal business next year. He said the small businesses in Sweetwater County are taking a big hit and it will be crucial for the events complex to bring people into the community through events to help stimulate the local economy.
Chairman Wendling asked that the events complex keep close track of their expenses so that if federal government COVID-19 relief funds end up covering organizations such as the complex, they can get reimbursement to help recover costs.
The commissioners were reluctant to make a motion, but Commissioner Lloyd moved to approve the loan request. Johnson seconded the motion, however noting that he seconded with the understanding that there will be other entities who will be facing troublesome times due to COVID-19, and that they should pay attention to those entities as well.
