Mt. CB distributes $270k in admissions tax grant funds

Crested Butte Mountain Resort gets $226,000 for airlines

The Mt. Crested Butte Town Council turned $323,500 in admissions tax grant requests from nine local groups and organizations into $270,000 in actual funding for programs and marketing aimed at bringing more people to town during the winter season. The biggest prize, a $226,000 grant, went to help Crested Butte Mountain Resort pay for its part of airline service to the valley this winter.

Crested Butte Lodging also got a significant share of the admissions tax dollars divvied up this year. That organization was awarded $24,000 of the $28,300 it had requested for various marketing campaigns covering Colorado, Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma.
Admissions tax dollars are generated through a 4 percent tax on the sale of event tickets, like those to ride the lifts or see a show, and the town hopes to invest those dollars where they will be likely to attract more people here and generate more admissions tax dollars to enhance activities in town.
The Town Council took a look at the nine requests for funding in mid-September from a range of community groups hoping to get out the word about their activities and events, although only seven of the groups sent representatives to appeal for the funds in person.
The Adaptive Sports Center, which has been giving people with disabilities the chance to participate in outdoor and adventure activities in the Gunnison Valley for the past 25 years, applied for a $7,500 grant to “increase awareness and participation for the Adaptive Sports Center,” according to its application.
In the last two seasons alone, ASC has seen 65 percent growth in its programs, treating 573 people to a day in the life last year, totaling 5,058 activities. Current projections show the 2012 season will see a 12 percent increase in activity, according to the application, which will likely lead to more sold lift tickets at Crested Butte Mountain Resort and more admissions tax for the town.
“Marketing conducted by the Adaptive Sports Center marketing team during the fall of 2012 will grow the number of individuals traveling to Mt. Crested Butte during the winter of 2012-13,” the application notes. The council liked what it heard and offered the ASC $7,000 for their marketing plan.
There was also a $3,000 grant application from Gunnison Area Restorative Practices, which takes a group approach in “preventing and managing conflict and harmful behaviors,” among people in the community.
According to its application, GARP will use the money to bring as many as 450 people to town in late November for Fresh Tracks, a fundraiser that could bring the organization $40,000 in donations. It would also bring locals and second-home owners to town for the early days of the ski season and the Thanksgiving holiday.
“This will result in increased revenues from both the event and the weekend to Mt. Crested Butte,” the application says, as many do, to assure the council they would see some returns on their investment. Council decided a $2,000 investment would be enough.
The Trailhead Children’s Museum, located in the CBMR base area, was another organization that lined up for admissions tax funds, applying for $3,500 to help pay for marketing efforts aimed at increasing attendance at the museum and participation in programs yet again.
Trailhead executive director Katie Mueller wrote in the application, “Our earned income nearly quadrupled this summer over last summer. More specifically, the Trailhead experienced double the amount of paid visitors, double the amount of member visits and a significant increase in summer program attendance.”
Currently, Mueller wrote, the Trailhead serves about 10,000 children and their families annually.
 If funded in full, the grant would have covered about 35 percent of the Trailhead’s winter marketing budget, but the council opted to fund $3,000 of the request this year.
Trimming a little off the top of each organization’s request was common for the Town Council, as the $4,000 request from the Crested Butte/Mt. Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce for this winter’s Butte Bucks Program turned into a $3,000 grant.
That program, entering its third season, “encourages local spending and stimulates the local economy with a direct, positive and measurable impact on local businesses and local sales tax,” chamber executive director Dan Marshal wrote the council in the application.
The same fate of scaled-back funding fell on the Elk Mountains Grand Traverse, which requested $3,000 and got $1,500.
The revamped Crested Butte Songwriter’s Festival, now back to life for a second year of bringing live music and a few big names in country music to the valley for four days in January, got the $3,500 it requested.
Mt. Crested Butte will make grants from its admissions tax fund for the summer in March.