Crested Butte business license fee going up

Chamber of Commerce needs more revenue

By Mark Reaman

Those doing business in Crested Butte will soon have to pay a little extra for a business license to operate in town. The annual fee will go up from $100 to $150 with all the revenues going to the Crested Butte-Mt. Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce for its operation of the Visitor Center. Historically, the Chamber has received 75% of the business license fee to go toward Visitor Center operations. In 2019, the Chamber received $51,182. This coming year it is expected to get approximately $94,500 with the fee increase.

That additional money is meant to help the Chamber make it through increasingly tough financial times. Staffing has been decreased and Chamber of Commerce executive director Heather Leonard said the hope is to raise salaries to start at $25 per hour which is comparable to similar positions in the valley. She told the council she will be approaching the town of Mt. Crested Butte for additional funding along with the county’s Tourism and Prosperity Partnership (TAPP). More retail revenue is hoped for, along with other potential grants. 

Leonard said surveys about the potential increase were sent to 602 business license holders and a total of 88, or 14%, responded. While 49% supported the fee increase, 51% did not. The majority felt a tiered system based on a business’s number of employees should be implemented. 

“I wish the response was higher, but it was better than some previous surveys,” she told the council at the September 16 meeting. “We don’t want to overburden the local businesses, so we are looking at hybrid funding that includes the business license fee, more retail sales, the towns and TAPP. We will be asking the county commissioners to allocate more of the local marketing district money to the Chamber.”

Councilmember Anna Fenerty suggested that a closer look at the tiered business license system based on employee numbers should be considered. 

Leonard said a straight $50 across-the-board increase was “the path of least resistance right now. It gets us where we need to go in 2025 with the additional funding opportunities.”

Leonard said she needs to raise staff wages and increase the staff positions. “We are struggling to hire people at $17 an hour but people said they would work for us at $25 an hour,” she said. 

Councilmember Beth Goldstone asked if the Chamber had asked some of the larger, more tourist-facing businesses for a voluntary contribution to help fund the Visitor Center specifically. 

“It is difficult to do that,” admitted Leonard. “Maybe some sort of sponsorship opportunities is something to look into.”

“I don’t think $50 is too big a deal,” said Crested Butte mayor Ian Billick. “For larger businesses it won’t even be material. But what we have doesn’t work. This is small. In five years, I hope we are thinking more strategically about the Visitor Center and businesses. So, I am supportive of the $150 business license fee because I think Heather is moving in the right direction. But it’s an incremental change and doesn’t solve the problems.”

“I hear that, but I would be much more supportive of the tiered system idea,” said councilmember Gabi Prochaska. “To say it’s all equal doesn’t make sense to me. I am okay with the $150 given it’s not that great of an increase. But if it comes before us again, I wouldn’t want a one-size-fits-all approach.”

Council voted 6-1 to implement the fee increase from the current $100 that has been in place more than a decade. Goldstone voted against the motion.

The town will send out the notice of the new fee to businesses in November with payment due in January.