According to anecdotal reports business was slow this spring. Now the numbers confirm it. Sales tax receipts collected by the city of Ketchum indicate April was the slowest it's been since 20004 and below the seven-year average.
Ketchum collects sales taxes on retail sales, liquor and short-term beds. The figures can serve as something of a barometer for how local business is faring.
This April, Ketchum collected $97,108. That compares with $113,668 in April 2006 and $106,765 in April 2005. The seven-year average is $99,350.
"I've not heard many people jumping up and down with enthusiasm coming out of the second quarter of 2007," said Rob Santa, owner of Sturtevants Mountain Outfitters and Sturtos on Main Street in Ketchum.
Carol Waller, executive director of the Sun Valley-Ketchum Chamber & Visitors Bureau, agreed.
"I think it has been slow," she said. "I think it's one of those things where it's probably a culmination of factors and one of those things we've been trying to address. The fact that we had a shorter ski season was definitely a factor."
The ski resort this year closed April 8, compared with April 23 in 2006 and April 17 in 2005. Typically, the season ends sometime in the middle of the month, closer to the 2005 date.
"We lost a whole week, if not two weeks this year," Waller said.
Also, she pointed out, Friedman Memorial Airport in Hailey was closed from April 24 through May 23. That may have had an impact on April sales tax receipts, and it most certainly will be a factor in May receipts when they're compiled.
A peek at lodging occupancies is also revealing and helps illustrate how closely tied the local economy is to tourism. Occupancy in Ketchum and Sun Valley was only 24 percent this April, compared with 32 percent in 2006 and 43 percent in 2005.
Another thing, however, is that spring is always slower than other times of year in Ketchum and Sun Valley. It's called "slack" in Wood River Valley parlance, and spring slack is always the slowest time of year.
"There's no silver bullet to the economy," Santa said, "but it's the amalgamation of the events and opportunities and lodging opportunities."
Clive and Sally Anne Smith, of Carmel, Calif., peruse the wares in downtown Ketchum this week. Sales tax receipts collected in April show that business in the north-valley resort town this spring was slower than usual. Photo by David N. Seelig
