City, Steamboat Resort nearing lift tax deal that wouldn't expand bus service
- Dylan Anderson
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Well below the city’s initial ask, the $2.75 million deal would mean Steamboat Voters won’t see a ballot question this fall.
The city of Steamboat Springs and Steamboat Resort are nearing a lift tax deal netting $2.75 million annually for the city’s transit system, though it would not be enough to allow for expanded bus service, according to a staff summary of talks.
City Council added an executive session to Tuesday’s meeting to discuss the deal, which would last for between 20 and 30 years, with “check-ins” every five years. As proposed, the deal is roughly $2.25 million in new money being paid by Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp. to the city each year, with inflation adjustments kicking in after three years. Ski Corp. says it will also contribute $1 million to a local regional transportation authority.
If the deal is finalized, there would be no need to bring a lift tax question before voters this fall. The lift tax would actually be structured as a fee, and wouldn’t be tied to actual skier numbers, the summaries indicate.
The terms have been negotiated in a series of closed-door meetings between city and resort officials. City Council has primarily discussed the lift tax amongst themselves behind closed doors as well, with most public information coming in staff updates included with the City Manager Report.
“We are optimistic. We’re in a very close place,” said Council member Brian Swintek before Council went into an executive session to discuss the lift tax on June 17.
The lift tax proposal is one of two ways that City Council has pursued in the hopes of more sustainable funding for the general fund, which is primarily supported by sales taxes. The other measure, a vacancy tax on homes that are unoccupied for more than half the year, will likely be considered by Steamboat Voters this November.
Both sides appear eager to avoid sending a lift tax to voters. In one exchange during the June 18 negotiation, Resort President and COO Dave Hunter said he was disappointed to hear the city was working on ballot language for a lift tax. Swintek then clarified that they don’t intend to send a question to the ballot, but don’t want to miss deadlines if a deal with the resort were to fall through.
The city initially sought $7.5 million at the onset of negotiations for a plan that would have included service expansion and new capital purchases. But this was well above the resort’s initial offer that included $1 million in new money for city transit, according to a staff summary of the April 28 meeting.
By the start of the June 3 meeting, the city’s request had decreased to $6 million, a number that City Council did some official polling to gauge voter support for a lift tax. That survey, which included 287 responses, showed that while voters favored approval by a razor-thin margin initially, after they were given statements about a potential lift tax, that support increased to 61% definitely or probably support.
Resort officials argued that funding at $6 million would have ripple effects, including on the roughly $2 million they contribute annually to local organizations and on benefits for their workers, like housing stipends. They offered $2 million in new money instead.
“At $6 million [Steamboat Resort] can’t assume there will be business as usual,” the June 3 summary says, attributing the statement to Director of Social Responsibility Sarah Jones. “The above community and employee initiatives would be in jeopardy [for any] annual contribution above $2 million.”
By the end of the June 3 meeting, the city updated its request to include $3 million for city transit, with more than $500,000 of that being money Ski Corp. was already giving the city. This left a $500,000 gap between the two parties. In the June 18 meeting, the parties agreed to essentially meet in the middle.
As outlined in the latest summary, the deal includes $2.75 million for transit annually, with $2.25 million in new money from the resort. That would stay flat for three years, before increasing by a measure of inflation capped at 5%.
Still up in the air is the term of the deal. While Steamboat Council has pushed for 30 years, the resort has favored a shorter 20-year term with a “check-in” every five years. Council is scheduled to meet in executive session at the end of its meeting on Tuesday to discuss the latest iteration of the deal.
