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TOOELE — Mark McKendrick, Tooele County's parks and recreation director, would like to forget 2013. Budget cuts led to the elimination of many county programs, events — like the county fair — and plenty of layoffs.
County officials said it was sad last year going to the empty fairgrounds during the traditional fair weekend and seeing empty stands. But from July 31-Aug. 2 residents will have a fair to attend.
“I’m glad it’s coming back,” McKendrick said. ”It was a real disappointment for a lot of people last year, including myself, and we’re just glad it’s coming back. It’s tradition.”
The county says it’s looking at a more balanced budget, and soon residents will be enjoying rides, games and good old-fashioned fair food.
“It’ll be here,” Tooele County Commissioner Jerry Hurst said. “You can have all the calories you need.”
Hurst said the county's cash cow included mitigation fees from the Tooele Army Depot and Energy Solutions to get rid of old chemical weapons and toxic materials.
“We had a dose of reality when the cash cow got sick,” Hurst said. “It didn’t die, but it got sick. As the county treasurer put it, it was the perfect storm.”
Combine that with the recession and no property tax increases for 27 years, and something had to give.
“No, it was not a fun year at all,” McKendrick said. “It was pretty devastating. We lost 17 full-time employees."
McKendrick said four of the workers who were laid off last year have been re-hired.
"They are in different roles than they were before," McKendrick said. "But at least we were able to bring them back. I think it shows things are getting better. Maybe not to the point where we were, and we'll probably never get back to that point, but we're better off now than we were last year."
