The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Allows for road maintenance and maintenance facility
By Alissa Johnson
The Mt. Crested Butte Town Council has finished the budgeting process for 2017, and the town is expecting another strong year. The 2017 budget will allow for a new maintenance facility and some additional roadwork and police cars.
At a public hearing on Tuesday, November 14, town finance director Karl Trujillo shared some highlights of the 2017 budget, which includes $3.3 million in total revenues. That is based on a 3 percent increase in sales tax collections, and the budget also projects another healthy year of building revenues.
According to Trujillo, the town budgeted $300,000 in building revenues, in contrast to the $238,000 it typically budgets. “We have a 5 percent increase over the 2016 budget [for building revenues], but it’s really a 3 percent decrease over the 2016 projects because we have had such a big building year,” he said.
General fund expenditures have been budgeted at a 2 percent increase over 2016 projections, and Trujillo confirmed that expenses typically rise about 2 percent per year.
And keeping the general fund balance at 50 percent of expenditures will still allow the town to transfer $637,000 to the capital fund. That includes $150,000 for annual road maintenance and another $200,000 for work outlined in a six-year road maintenance plan with engineering company SGM.
“We also budgeted to build a maintenance facility next year and buy a couple PD (police department) cars,” Trujillo concluded. Among its intended uses, the maintenance facility will make it easier for the town to store major equipment that is currently kept outdoors, extending its life and reducing wear and tear.
The final 2017 budget was the result of two Town Council work sessions. The council approved the first reading of the budget and will review it one more time before it’s official.
