2 weeks Ago By Josie Taris, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Pitkin County Manager Jon Peacock said that with the 2025 budget, the county is continuing to focus on staff recruitment and retention, infrastructure and affordable housing. Pitkin County kicked off budget discussions with a proposed $255 million budget for 2025, up 15.5% from the 2024 budget.
The budget also plans for a 15.6% increase in revenue over the originally proposed 2024 budget, which was $215 million — a 15% increase from 2023. Pitkin County Budget Director Connie Baker said that the revenue and expenditure increase would be lower if it weren’t for the expected bonding for the Solid Waste Center’s planned expansion.
Some of the major expenditures include road and bridge work, $20.7 million over the next five years, and county infrastructure electrification like the Pitkin County Library and Health and Human Services building. The General Fund expenditures are estimated at $55.
5 million for 2025, a 4.1% increase in expenditures versus the 2024 original budget and a 2.3% increase in revenue versus the 2024 original budget, ending with 31% of operational expenses — almost twice the recommended fund balance.
The General Fund covers budgets for departments like public safety, community development and internal services. “We are in a tourist-based economy, which can have a more elastic set of swings, and more and more of our revenues are in what we call more elastic revenue sources — sales tax, for example — that tend to follow those economic cycles,” said County Manager Jon Peacock. “Because of that, in our general fund, we tend to want to keep additional fund balance in there, so that if we do go through a correction period or one of those swings, we don't have to make precipitous decisions.
” Pitkin County’s proposed $255 million 2025 budget is a 15.5% increase over the originally proposed 2024 budget. Some county budget plans are in limbo pending the November general election.
Ballot questions on the future of the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport and a new property tax to support an affordable housing fund would change budget bottom lines, depending on the outcome. Property taxes make up a smaller percentage of revenue than fees and service charges (22.1%) and sales tax (21.
8%) at just 18.9% of total revenue. Baker explained that because the airport and landfill are backed by enterprise funds and do not collect any tax, their budgets are supported by fees and service charges.
Sales taxes are expected to bring in more than property taxes, but that is forecast to change in the coming years. Even with decreasing visitor numbers to the county, sales tax revenue has grown, which county staff attributes to inflation. The budget forecasts a 2% increase for 2025 but a 4% decrease for 2026, which Baker attributed to the airport and to a slowing economy.
“One [reason] is the idea that at some point there will be a downturn and we will see a contraction in sales tax. The other is anticipating the impact of airport projects, whether the vote goes one way or another,” she said. “We ran through thoughts of different scenarios on different outcomes of the upcoming vote, and felt like this projection could encompass both outcomes.
” The county plans to run a $2 million operating deficit for 2025 out of the General Fund, which houses the bulk of county money. Baker explained that the deficit is the spending of accrued savings on one-time expenditures. The deficit will fund the Community Development Department’s growth management project, Vision 2050, which is expected to cost $1.
7 million, and other smaller one-time costs. Baker said the financial health of the general fund will eliminate the deficit by 2026 and still allow for supplemental budget requests. “We don't have a structural deficit issue,” Peacock said.
“We have a strategic deficit issue for one-time investments.” The ComDev department expects its fee revenue to decline after 2025 after catching up from the backlog of pandemic-era construction projects and remodel applications and benefiting from heightened construction costs, which contributed to higher fees. One of the most apparent effects of heightened property values are in the county treasurer’s fees.
The treasurer certifies mill levies for taxing districts in the county. Most of the county funds are limited by the Taxpayers Bill of Rights, or TABOR, but some taxing districts outside of the county funds are “debruced,” meaning they can receive unlimited year-over-year revenue increases, thanks to voter approval. State statute dictates fees from the taxing districts to the county, 5% of property tax for most taxing districts, 2% for municipalities and 0.
25% for schools. The county estimates 27% growth in fee revenue for 2025. It is not the full 54% average increase in assessed property values as some districts offered temporary mill levy credits, or chose to collect less in property tax than they could have collected.
Over the next two months, county departments will make individual presentations to the board to discuss their individual budget plans in detail, including a number of full-time equivalent staff position requests and succession plans for some departments with employees planning to retire. The county plans to adopt its 2025 budget and certify mill levies at their Dec. 10 meeting, ahead of the Dec.
15 state deadline..
