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# Steamboat council puts Chamber money back, leaves curb repairs out of 2027 budget
- URL: https://yvindy.com/steamboat-council-puts-chamber-money-back-leaves-curb-repairs-out-of-2027-budget-2/
- Published: 2026-10-10T06:00:08.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-10T06:00:07.000Z
- Description: The city's short-term rental tax fund is projected to hold $49.7 million at the end of 2027 because the city hasn't identified any 2027 spending from it, and city documents disagree on several key numbers.
- Author: Anna Parashina
- Tags: Steamboat Springs, budget, housing, city council

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — After a nearly nine-hour budget retreat Oct. 6, the Steamboat Springs City Council endorsed a 2027 General Fund that drops a proposed city forester and puts back most of the money trimmed from the Chamber's marketing request, but does not restore curb and gutter repairs.

The proposed budget totals $117.9 million in spending across all funds. It adds a net 8.54 full-time-equivalent positions while cutting maintenance, and it projects that the short-term rental tax fund, which voters dedicated to housing, will hold $49.7 million at the end of 2027 because the city has not identified any 2027 spending from it. That projected balance equals about 42% of all the spending the city proposes for 2027.

The fund got about five minutes of discussion at the retreat, during staff's review of city funds. Finance Director Kim Weber told council the $49.7 million figure is "not correct," because council will approve spending during the year, but said the city has no forecast of what that spending will be. "We don't have any expenses forecasted for or budgeted for 2027," she said.

Deferring essential maintenance "effectively means the city is borrowing against the future," the budget letter says, a line City Manager Tom Leeson read to council at the start of the day.

A review of the retreat packet, the meeting video and the city's written answers to the Independent also found places where city figures don't agree, from the 2027 sales tax forecast to the housing fund's balance. They are listed at the end of this story.

## What council changed

Council takes no formal votes at a budget retreat; members gave the city manager direction by thumbs-up polls. Six of the seven members took part. Staff had presented a General Fund balanced with about $53,000 to spare. Council:

- Dropped the proposed city forester, 5–1, and put back $20,000 in contract services that had been cut when the position was added.
- Kept two other new positions, an HR and risk coordinator and a communications generalist, 5–1.
- Restored $225,000 of the $250,000 trimmed from the Chamber's request, for total Chamber funding of $1.2 million.
- Added about $23,000 to expand summer day camp, 5–1, and $10,000 to raise the sales tax rebate for low-income seniors from $200 to $350.
- Funded a $208,778 sidewalk master plan update, 4–2, and $150,000 to design a restroom at the Howelsen stables, both from the capital projects fund.

To make room, staff proposed paying for a $100,000 emergency contingency from reserves rather than the operating budget; Council Member Brian Swintek objected to "touching reserves" to pay for council's additions. The final package left the General Fund $9,118 in the black, and council endorsed it 5–1.

Council Member Dave Barnes asked to add back "streets deferred maintenance." Council Member Michael Buccino objected: "I do not think that the deferred maintenance on the streets needs to be done right now." Curb repair was not in the final package; the packet shows a $15,000 curb, gutter and sidewalk repair line eliminated.

## Maintenance cuts, and a list council hadn't seen

The packet itemizes 115 "tier 2" reductions totaling $1.69 million, and the budget letter says the largest share falls on maintenance and deferred maintenance. Besides the curb line, the list eliminates $5,000 for bridge repair and trims $111,500 in planned facility maintenance.

An earlier round of "tier 1" cuts, made when departments were told to come in 2% below their 2026 budgets, is not in the packet. "These were not individually tracked," the city said in written answers to the Independent on Oct. 5\. At the retreat, Weber told council, "I don't have a list" of how departments made those reductions.

One department produced one at the meeting. Asked where the deferred maintenance list was, Weber said, "It wasn't detailed out in your budget packet." Facilities Manager Eric Freeze then showed council a list he said he had just typed up from his planned maintenance list, separating first-round and second-round deferrals. Council Member Gail Garey read the first-round total aloud as 686,460.

At least one first-round cut did not reduce what a department spends. The fire department's first-round reduction of about $317,982 was covered instead by the voter-approved Fire/EMS property tax fund, Weber told council: "So we didn't make the actual cuts."

Rising costs are shrinking what the city can fix. "The list of deferred maintenance items that we're funding is getting shorter," Weber said. Staff also cut the General Fund's 2027 transfer to the capital projects fund from $2 million to $1 million, after finding $1.4 million in lodging tax money left out of that fund and making a $400,000 audit correction; the net left the capital fund about where it had been.

Staff said safety work was spared. Freeze said health and safety items are ones "I will not defer." Street Superintendent David Van Winkle warned that a cut to scoria, the cinders spread on icy roads, "will be a safety issue if we have a heavy winter." Staff said the scoria budget is based on an average of the past three years rather than last winter's light use, and that the city would ask council for more money if needed.

## Payroll grows

![Line chart of budgeted city staffing in full-time equivalents: 338.27 in 2023, 353.32 in 2024, 360.84 in 2025, 370.93 in 2026 and 383.27 proposed for 2027, a 13% increase.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/aa/3a/aa3a9637-6f90-40b7-a01c-13f8ce5c1e50/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-879d0b63-6907-41a0-885d-76d4085273bc.png)

Source: City of Steamboat Springs, 2027 budget retreat packet, Staffing History - All Funds (PDF p. 29).

![Bar chart comparing all-funds spending. Personnel costs rise from $45.2 million in the 2026 original budget to $49.5 million proposed for 2027, up 9%. Operating expenses fall from $24.6 million to $22.2 million, down 10%.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/aa/3a/aa3a9637-6f90-40b7-a01c-13f8ce5c1e50/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-f19c238f-3c7e-402a-9208-44ff6a5a1b7c.png)

Source: 2027 budget retreat packet, Summary by Fund (PDF p. 28). Percent changes calculated by the Independent.

As proposed, the budget funds 383.27 full-time-equivalent positions across all funds, up from 338.27 budgeted in 2023, a 13% increase. All-funds personnel costs rise 9% over the original 2026 budget, to $49.5 million, while operating expenses fall 10%, to $22.2 million. Weber told council the net 8.54 positions added for 2027 amount to about a 2% increase and that about half are paid from outside sources such as the Fire/EMS fund; another 6.25 requested positions went unfunded. Dropping the forester lowers the count; the city has not yet given a new total.

Swintek argued that the budget pays for new positions and recreation at the expense of upkeep. "If I waved a wand, I would tell staff to go back and cut the recreation budget by 20%," he said near the end of the day. "I don't know how we can make an argument to our public that we need more funding in one year's time when those are the sacrifices we make." Members had discussed asking voters for more revenue next year, mentioning a consolidated fire district and wastewater funding.

Barnes answered that once inflation is counted, starting 2% below the 2026 budget means "we're actually cutting 8 to 10% out of the budget."

The budget letter says the new positions "are not adding to service level" but are needed to maintain it. "Adding new employees is always difficult to justify in a municipal budget, especially in a constrained financial environment," Leeson said in his opening budget message. Tasha Murphy of the city's human resources department told council that while the city's headcount hovers around 400 to 450, "we are turning through about over 600 people per year."

## The housing tax fund: busy in 2026, no 2027 spending identified

![Bar chart of the short-term rental tax fund balance: $9.2 million at the end of 2023, $20.2 million in 2024, $37.1 million in 2025 (the budget packet says $39.1 million), $28.8 million on June 30, 2026, and projected balances of $35.6 million at the end of 2026 and $49.7 million at the end of 2027.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/aa/3a/aa3a9637-6f90-40b7-a01c-13f8ce5c1e50/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-fc14f091-d02b-44e1-b7b1-789cffd9f8e3.png)

Sources: City of Steamboat Springs, Short Term Rental Tax Fund Overview as of June 30, 2026; 2027 budget retreat packet (PDF p. 27).

Voters approved a 9% short-term rental tax in November 2022\. The ballot question dedicated the money "for use to increase the stock of affordable and attainable housing by providing incentives and contributions to facilitate the development of affordable and attainable housing at locations including, but not limited to, brown ranch and to provide funding for infrastructure associated with affordable and attainable housing, including, without limitation, energy, stormwater, water, wastewater, and multi-modal transportation." The tax expires at the end of 2042 unless voters extend it. The ballot estimated it would raise $14.3 million in its first full calendar year. Collections began in January 2023; the city's fund report shows $9.2 million that year, $15.3 million in 2024 and $13.4 million in 2025\. The city does not budget the fund's spending in advance. "The city appropriates STR Funds on a per-project basis and not through annual budget process," it said in its written answers, and Weber told council the approach reflects council's wish to approve projects before money is spent. The budget letter says the fund's 2027 expenditures "have not yet been identified or budgeted" and that the money "will remain in fund balance until City Council appropriates these expenditures," leaving a projected $49.7 million balance at the end of 2027.

![Horizontal bar chart of $19.1 million in 2026 housing fund entries through June 30: a $10 million Cottonwoods at Mid-Valley grant, $4.03 million for the Campbell property, $3 million for the deed restriction program (of which $545,000 has been used, according to the retreat), $2.01 million in CDOT property closing costs, and smaller consulting and Lofts at Basecamp amounts.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/aa/3a/aa3a9637-6f90-40b7-a01c-13f8ce5c1e50/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-cb3cc961-ac4b-4412-8529-0ed36815983b.png)

Source: City of Steamboat Springs, Short Term Rental Tax Fund Overview, "As of 6/30/2026" column; Oct. 6 retreat video.

The fund has been active this year. A city report attached to the written answers records $19.1 million in 2026 activity through June 30: a $10 million grant for the Cottonwoods at Mid-Valley, $4.03 million for the Campbell property, $3 million for the deed restriction purchase program and $2.01 million in closing costs for the CDOT property. The Campbell and CDOT parcels are land the city is assembling as the Stockbridge Campus; another appropriation of rental tax money for CDOT closing costs is on council's tentative Oct. 20 agenda. The report shows a $28.8 million balance on June 30, after $24.8 million recorded as spending since 2023, including a $2.6 million loan that was repaid in 2025\. The budget packet projects the balance will reach $49.7 million by the end of 2027.

At the retreat, Council Member Amy Dickson said council should budget for the deed restriction program: "I just think it looks bad not having any type of expenditure." Weber said it might not "look any better" to budget $20 million, and Garey listed possible 2027 costs, including Slate Creek, Hilltop and Stockbridge. Of the $3 million for the deed restriction program, $545,000 has been used, Buccino said. Applications are "coming in and they're not streaming in," Leeson said, adding that "3 million at this point has been enough." Staff will propose a 2027 amount, with an update due in December.

Council "will consider additional appropriations as projects are proposed and evaluated by the Ad-Hoc Housing Advisory Committee," the city said, and the fund's "management and governance" will be on council's Dec. 8 work session agenda.

No one at the retreat proposed using the money for anything but housing; Weber mentioned it as a possible source for council's add-backs only "if it's eligible cost." The budget also dropped $100,000 for consulting on "Community Plan and Housing Plan implementation." The city called that money a placeholder "for a potential plan that hasn't been identified yet" that could later come from the General Fund or the rental tax fund.

## Chamber funding grows on marketing district money

![Stacked bar chart of Chamber marketing funding: $700,000 from the city in 2026; a 2027 request of $1,225,000 ($700,000 city, $525,000 marketing district); a $975,000 proposal ($450,000 city, $525,000 district); and $1.2 million after the retreat ($675,000 city, $525,000 district).](https://storage.ghost.io/c/aa/3a/aa3a9637-6f90-40b7-a01c-13f8ce5c1e50/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-56a99628-f966-4983-bd2a-fd1a10ba10e5.png)

Sources: 2027 budget retreat packet, Community Support (PDF p. 65); city's written answers, Oct. 5; Oct. 6 retreat video. City shares for the proposal and final amount calculated by the Independent.

The packet's largest single reduction, $250,000 from the Chamber's destination marketing request, was a cut from what the Chamber asked for, not from what it received. The Chamber got $700,000 in 2026\. For 2027 it requested $1,225,000, which the packet breaks into $700,000 from the city and $525,000 from the local marketing district; the proposed budget held $975,000, "approximately 40% increase from 2026," the city said. The $525,000 comes from a new agreement under which the marketing district provides money to the city's General Fund.

With council's add-back, total Chamber funding is $1.2 million. If the marketing district's share stays at $525,000, the city's own share is about $675,000, slightly below 2026\. City officials told council the district's contribution is figured from the city's budget line and is subject to a cap, and that the terms should be confirmed with the district. "This is the one time where we probably need to invest more in marketing," Council President Steve Muntean said.

## Dispatch deal still unsigned

![Bar chart of Routt County's estimated dispatch charge to the city: $470,000 in 2026, $875,000 in 2027 and $1.2 million a year from 2028. A dashed line marks the $851,000 budgeted in the 2027 police budget.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/aa/3a/aa3a9637-6f90-40b7-a01c-13f8ce5c1e50/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-abfbde4a-a48d-40ff-80f6-6203fb10e486.png)

Sources: 2027 budget retreat packet, budget letter (PDF p. 7); Oct. 6 retreat video; city's written answers, Oct. 5.

Routt County plans to charge the city for dispatch services, phased in over three years: an estimated $470,000 in 2026, $875,000 in 2027 and $1.2 million a year from 2028, according to the budget letter. The agreement is unsigned, and city staff "maintain that this service should continue to be funded through property tax," the letter says. The city said it is still negotiating and "has not yet paid any fees for 2026." Leeson said the 2026 bill, about $451,000, is carried as an account payable. The 2027 budget holds $851,000 in the police budget, Weber said; fire's share of about $100,000 was left out, and she proposed adding it from the Fire/EMS fund.

Routt County Commissioner Sonja Macys told council during public comment that the agreement is "in the final stages of approval by every Routt County jurisdiction and fire district except the city of Steamboat Springs." She called the fee-for-service approach "a well-established practice across Colorado" and said running a separate city dispatch operation would cost taxpayers more. If the city does not sign, she said, city agencies would be limited to basic 911 service. Swintek called that "a polite threat." City Attorney Dan Foote said city property owners pay 64% of the county's property tax and the city generates about 60% of dispatch calls. Dispatch "is becoming more expensive" and federal grant money is going away, he said: "They need some help." But, he added, "they're not asking for help. They're just sort of telling us." Council gave no formal direction; the $851,000 stays in the budget as a placeholder while staff seeks a meeting between council and the county commissioners.

## Spending data incomplete

Council set a goal of putting transaction-level spending online by June 2026\. The city now says its OpenGov transparency site "is incomplete due to a software conversion" and "is not pulling all of the accounts properly," and that it will take the link down until it is fixed. Quarterly financial reports will be published by the end of the year, "but it likely will not be through OpenGov," the city said. Leeson told council this year's budget was built "the old-fashioned way using Excel spreadsheets" because of "technical issues with our software programs."

## Sales tax and security

Sales tax, about 65% of General Fund revenue, is projected to end 2026 at about $40.33 million, $540,000 below budget; the 2027 budget assumes $41.14 million, 2% above that projection, the city said. "You'll see that our sales tax isn't even keeping up with the CPI," Weber said.

The budget cuts a $15,000 payment-card security (PCI) audit and $15,000 for compliant hard drive disposal. The city said dropping them "does not introduce additional compliance risk" and that retired drives "will be physically destroyed."

## The city's case

The budget letter calls the plan balanced and says it holds transportation, fire/EMS and police services at 2026 levels while including more than $2 million in community support. Staff said the maintenance cuts were chosen to spare health and safety work. And Weber told council that skipping raises in past lean years backfired: "we paid more and more and more in recruitment."

## Numbers that don't line up

![Table comparing city figures that disagree. 2027 sales tax: Budget letter: the 2027 sales tax budget is "nearly $1M below" the 2026 budget. Written answers: $41.14 million for 2027 against a 2026 budget of $40.87 million, about $270,000 higher. Housing fund, end of 2025: City's June 30 fund report: $17.21 million in 2025 revenue and a $37.09 million year-end balance. Budget packet: $19.24 million in 2025 revenue and $39.13 million entering 2026, about $2 million more. Deed restriction program: June 30 report: $3 million recorded as 2026 spending. Retreat: $545,000 of the $3 million used so far, Buccino said. What the 2026 housing entries mean: June 30 report labels its as-of-June-30 column "Actual." Its four largest 2026 entries equal the 2026 budget amounts to the dollar; the report doesn't say whether they are payments or approvals. First-round ("tier 1") cuts: Written answers: "These were not individually tracked." Retreat: the facilities manager showed a first-round list he said he had just typed up, its total read aloud as 686,460. 2027 dispatch charge: Budget letter: $875,000. Retreat: $851,000 in the police budget, with fire's share of about $100,000 not yet included. Tier 2 total: Packet prints $1,690,478. Its 115 lines add to $1,688,478. The city said a skipped line number was a deleted duplicate; it has not explained the $2,000. Spending online: Council goal: transaction-level spending online by June 2026. City, Oct. 5: the OpenGov site is incomplete and the link will come down until it is fixed.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/aa/3a/aa3a9637-6f90-40b7-a01c-13f8ce5c1e50/content/images/2026/10/data-src-image-47306c6f-dc86-4f47-89d5-d79e632d3ae1.png)

Sources: 2027 budget retreat packet (PDF pp. 4, 7, 19-23, 27-28); city's written answers, Oct. 5, 2026; Short Term Rental Tax Fund Overview as of June 30, 2026; Oct. 6 retreat video.

The Independent sent the city follow-up questions about these differences ahead of the holiday weekend, and answers were not expected before publication. This story will be updated with the city's response.

## What's next

- **Oct. 20:** First reading of the 2027 budget ordinance, on the tentative consent calendar with an ordinance using rental tax money for closing costs on the CDOT parcels at Stockbridge, an amendment to the CDOT sale agreement and an amendment to the Yampa Valley Housing Authority agreement. Second reading is scheduled for Nov. 10.
- **Nov. 17:** A joint meeting of council and the Routt County commissioners, where dispatch may come up.
- **Dec. 8:** Council work session on managing the short-term rental tax fund.

## About this story

Figures come from the city's [2027 budget retreat packet](https://docs.steamboatsprings.net/OnBaseAgendaOnline/Documents/DownloadFile/City%5FCouncil%5FBudget%5FRetreat%5F2535%5FAgenda%5FPacket%5F10%5F6%5F2026%5F8%5F00%5F00%5FAM.pdf?documentType=5&meetingId=2535&isAttachment=true&ref=yvindy.com), the city's Oct. 5 written answers to the Independent and the short-term rental tax fund report attached to them, the 2022 short-term rental tax ballot language as attached to a July 2023 city committee packet, and the [tentative Oct. 20 council agenda](https://docs.steamboatsprings.net/OnBaseAgendaOnline/Documents/DownloadFile/City%5FCouncil%5FRegular%5FMeeting%5F2564%5FAgenda%5F10%5F20%5F2026%5F5%5F00%5F00%5FPM.pdf?documentType=1&meetingId=2564&ref=yvindy.com). Quotes from the retreat come from the city's [video of the meeting](https://youtu.be/pLSpollr6jg?ref=yvindy.com). Percentages and totals are the Independent's calculations from city figures. Minutes of the retreat had not been posted as of Oct. 9.