Adjustment to BOLT shocks businesses

“It’s not like we do business in New York City …”

A bureaucratic glitch in Mt. Crested Butte has resulted in a big surprise to some of the businesses in the community. That glitch could provide a huge windfall to the Crested Butte-Mt. Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce, but the Town Council will look at the issue at its next meeting. Business license renewal notifications were sent out earlier this month and some companies saw their fee go up exponentially.

Since 2003, the towns of Mt. Crested Butte and Crested Butte have charged a flat $100 for a business license. That was at the request of the Chamber of Commerce, which was hoping to have a voluntary chamber with higher membership fees. Previous to 2003, both towns charged a BOLT (Business and Occupational License Tax) tax based on the number of employees in any business. The fee ranged from $100 to $1,500, and most of the money went to the Chamber. The BOLT made every business a mandatory member of the Crested Butte-Mt. Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce.
Because of the state’s TABOR Amendment, the town of Crested Butte has traditionally passed a motion each year to roll back the business license fee to the $100 level. The town of Mt. Crested Butte hasn’t done anything officially and simply charged the $100. But according to Mt. Crested Butte town manager Joe Fitzpatrick, this year, the staff realized that the 2003 ordinance rolling back the business license was supposed to have been for one year only.
So when business license renewal notices went out this year, local companies were charged at the old rate. This caught most businesspeople by surprise and has made some business owners upset.
“The last six months have been tough on every business up here,” said Tracy Hastings, co-owner of The Store and Deli. “It’s a really tough time to have a business and then to get hit with this—is crazy.”
The BOLT is based on the number of people employed at a business. A company with fewer than two people working pays $100. Businesses with three to seven employees are charged $275. A business with eight to 15 workers is hit with a $475 fee, and $1,000 is charged for businesses with between 16 and 24 employees. A company with more than 25 employees is charged $1,500. So if you have 25 people in a ski shop, the cost of a business license is $1,500. The largest employer on the mountain, Crested Butte Mountain Resort, also pays $1,500.
Hastings said for her business, the money issue wasn’t the crux of the problem because she doesn’t have a large number of people working for her. Her fee went from $100 to $275. “I really feel for those businesses with a lot of employees,” she said. “My question is, where is the respect? It should have been a common courtesy for the town to give some warning to the businesses. I am really disappointed no one called to explain the increase. We just got the bill. It’s not like we do business in New York City or Denver. It’s a small community and this hasn’t been handled very well in my opinion.”
Avalanche Bar and Grill co-owner Pete Schewe agreed with Hastings. “I have several gripes with it,” he explained. “I am getting penalized for hiring people. It is a tax on employees. The federal government is looking for ways to find people work and this community is penalizing me for hiring people. To go from $100 last year to getting a bill for $1,500 this year is nuts. That’s a huge increase.”
Schewe said the Avalanche employs far more than 25 full- and part-time people.
“My other complaint is getting blindsided with it,” Schewe continued. “Even Atmos Energy sends a notice that they are thinking about raising the gas rates before they do it. And the timing is horrible. My property tax bill is going up three-fold and business is off from last year. Now this? I know the town is hurting for money, but so are we. The businesses in Mt. Crested Butte provide the majority of financial support for the town. They need to realize that the well isn’t bottomless.”
Across the lot at the Brown Lab Pub, co-owner Steve Mikeska saw a slight increase and figured it was part of doing business in town. “I know the town is short on money and their costs aren’t going down either. The plowing costs alone last year had to be huge. I felt the slight increase wasn’t a battle worth fighting right now.”
But only $25 stays with the town under the BOLT, with the rest going to the Chamber.
Chamber of Commerce president Christi Matthews said the board had no idea the increased BOLT fees were going to be charged in Mt. Crested Butte. “It hasn’t even been formally discussed by the board,” she explained. “At this point we don’t have a position on whether or not the additional fees should be charged.”
The Chamber board will discuss the issue at its next meeting on Tuesday morning, January 20. The Mt. Crested Butte council will meet that evening. “If the old BOLT structure is used, the additional monies garnered by the Chamber would be put to good use,” she continued. “But no one has any idea how much money that would even generate. If we get additional funds through the BOLT, we want to make it clear to everyone how that money would be used and we would use it for the best purposes to benefit the business community.”
Flatiron Sports co-owner Chris Osmundson said no matter how good the cause, it is a tough time to get an unexpected bill. “The BOLT was originally designed for the Chamber. It was redefined in 2003 to maintain visitor’s centers, staff and events,” he said. “Those are good things. It would have been nice if we had seen it coming because everything is a little tighter this year. We increased our taxes with the school bond issue and that impacts every business as well. We are in a time when we have to count all the pennies and this is another 1,500 bucks that we didn’t see coming. It’s important the visitor’s centers are maintained and staffed. But it’s time to account for everything and watch our budgets and get through this period.”
Mt. Crested Butte mayor William Buck promises that the Town Council will look at the situation. “We’ll take a look at the pricing structure of that tax,” he said. “We want to keep the businesses in town happy. We also want to protect the Chamber because it’s an essential organization. Hopefully we can find some acceptable middle ground.”
Fitzpatrick says discussion of the issue is on the agenda for the next Mt. Crested Butte council meeting. He says the council can pass a new ordinance that would amend the existing BOLT structure or leave it at the old rate. “The ordinance the town is currently under makes it very clear that the rollback in the BOLT was supposed to be only for one year. The council can change it if they want. That is a decision that’s up to the council,” he said.