The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Looking at capital improvement projects such airport, CB to CB South trail
By Katherine Nettles
Gunnison County commissioners approved the county’s 2020 budget, taking a conservative approach overall and also holding funds for potential capital projects if timing and strategic grant matches work out. Plus, the county is saving for the future should economic growth slow down.
The beginning balance is projected at $78.6 million, with a projected ending balance of $82.7 million.
The total net budgeted expenditures for the new year amount to $107 million, with the largest line items going to Gunnison Valley Health ($57.7 million); road and bridge ($6.3 million); transportation ($4.6 million); human services ($4.4 million); the marketing district ($2.2 million; and airport operation ($1.2 million). The commissioners approved the budget on December 13.
Possible capital improvement projects on the horizon
Aside from budget planning, the county commissioners went through a capital improvement plan (CIP) last fall as a first step toward tangible future projects. They left $2 million in the capital project funds for a few roughly sketched goals such as helping to fund Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport improvements and a recreation trail connecting Crested Butte to Crested Butte South.
The CIP is a planning document that estimates the overall costs and potential county contributions to larger goals. County finance director Linda Nienhueser led the commissioners through the process with an overview of goals and estimated costs, many of which will require other funding sources such as grants to fully fund. This included grouping department head funding increase requests for the next five years, which were tallied together for consideration in the departments’ actual budgets. This documentation helps county staff weigh the importance of each budget request; for example, giving additional consideration to line items when they align with the county’s strategic plan. The CIP was also used to inform commissioners of a larger picture as they heard from various departments throughout the past two months regarding budget requests and future objectives.
“This allows us to be thinking longer toward the horizon,” said county manager Matthew Birnie. Birnie emphasized that the CIP items are not necessarily included in the budget. “The CIP is purely a planning document that allows us to understand the magnitude of the capital projects on the horizon. The CIP does not, however, actually appropriate or allocate funding. That happens in the budget document,” he wrote in an e-mail following the budget approval process.
The county’s chosen capital improvement funding goals for 2020 are $936,892 for Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport improvements and $500,000 to pursue the Crested Butte to Crested Butte South trail project. Then in 2021, the county has a goal of allotting the Crested Butte to Crested Butte South project another $925,000, bringing the project’s funding from the county to a total of $1.5 million ($75,000 was spent in prior years).
