Two departments looking for funding from the same source presented Tuesday, Nov. 18, to the Summit Board of County Commissioners. 

The county’s housing and road and bridge department budget presentations both asked the commissioners to allocate them lodging tax fund revenue. Housing and child care have received funding from that source since the tax began in 2023. Summit County voters approved Ballot Measure 1A, which allows the commissioners to use lodging tax revenue for road and bridge projects, by a 90% to 10% margin earlier this month.

Finance director David Reynolds said the county has allocated 45% of the lodging tax revenue to housing and 45% to child care each year, leaving 10% for the state-required allocation for tourism education. With Ballot Measure 1A passing, the board can reallocate the 90% not used for tourism education however it wants.

Housing

A memo prepared by interim housing co-director Lina Lesmes for the meeting stated her department’s 2026 draft budget includes a $1.1 million allocation from the lodging tax fund. The department would need to “reduce programs, development projects, or reserves” if the board does not allocate that much lodging tax revenue to housing, the memo stated.

Lesmes gave an overview of the housing budget, highlighting expenses for the Housing Helps program, hotel master leases, long-term rental incentives and the accessory dwelling unit assistance program.

The Housing Helps program provides funds to real estate buyers in exchange for them placing a light deed restriction on the home they are purchasing, helping preserve the homes for local workers in the future. The housing department budgeted $3 million for Housing Helps in 2026, although Lesmes’ memo stated it has not spent that much on the program since 2022.

“As we’ve entered into partnerships with the towns of Breckenridge, Silverthorne and Dillon, we’ve managed to convert more and more of these homes and (spend) less funding,” Lesmes said. 

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In 2025, the program spent about $1.7 million to convert 34 units, Lesmes said. The program spent more to convert fewer units in 2023 and 2024, according to her memo. She said the housing department budgeted $3 million in 2026 because it would like to expand the program. 

Lesmes proposed two ways of expanding Housing Helps, either through offering more money in exchange for buyers applying full deed restrictions on their property or by having the county purchase market-rate units and resell them at a lower price with deed restrictions.

The housing department budget includes about $960,000 for hotel master leases; $610,000 for long-term rental incentives, which would include an extension of funds going to the Blue River Apartments; and $500,000 for the accessory dwelling unit assistance program.

With a projected beginning balance of around $5.5 million and projected revenues of around $8.2 million, the budget also calls for $5.5 million to be allocated to capital projects, leaving an ending fund balance of $1.2 million.

The housing budget looks to allocate $1.7 million for the delayed housing project on land near Dillon the county is leasing from the U.S. Forest Service. It also earmarks $1.3 million for the project in 2027.

“$1.7 million is what we’re earmarking for, primarily, design, feasibility and working with a potential developer for that project,” Lesmes said.

The other $2.5 million in capital expenses come from the Habitat for Humanity’s Soda Creek project, for which the department budgeted $1 million, and $1.5 million for partnerships with towns on housing projects “currently in negotiation,” according to Lesmes’ memo.

Road and bridge

Public works director Aaron Byrne presented the draft road and bridge budget, which outlines a seven-year capital plan that Byrne said front loads projects in its first two years to “catch up with” critical projects and infrastructure.

The 2026 and 2027 capital budgets total around $8.9 million and $7 million, respectively, while the 2028-2032 capital budgets average $6.3 million, Byrne said. 

Expenses in 2026 include almost $6 million for the completion of Swan Mountain Road, $1.8 million for work on Baldy Road and about $1.1 million for three roads in Copper Mountain. The 2027 budget includes $4.3 million for rockfall mitigation on Dillon Dam Road, almost $1 million for Straight Creek Drive and about $1.8 million for roads in Copper Mountain.

The 2026 budget, Byrne said, would spend all of the fund’s projected starting balance, which is just under $1.8 million, as well as its projected revenue of $16 million. The department projects a deficit of $360,000, which it asked the commissioners to counteract with lodging tax funds.

Byrne said the department recommends putting 75% of the lodging tax revenue, or about $1.9 million, toward the road and bridge budget. While the number is more than the projected $360,000 deficit, the funding would allow the county to use fewer sales tax dollars from the general fund on road and bridge. That sales fund revenue could stay in the general fund and help pay down its 2026 deficit, which sat at $5.2 million last month.

The recommended plan would only use 81% of the county’s sales tax revenue, as opposed to the currently budgeted 100%. The 19% that would go back to the general fund equates to about $1.4 million.

For 2027, Byrne said the department recommends putting 90% of sales tax revenue, or about $6.5 million, towards road and bridge, as well as 45% of lodging tax revenue, or about $1.1 million.

Reynolds said the lodging tax’s total revenue is projected to be under $2.5 million in 2025 and 2026 after coming in at $3.6 million in 2024. He noted that lodging taxes in Keystone contributed to the fund for about half of 2024 before the town’s incorporation.

Mamula asked if the lodging tax revenue comes in evenly throughout the year, and Reynolds said about half of the revenue comes in the first quarter.

County manager Dave Rossi said the commissioners can adjust the allotments of lodging tax revenue throughout the year if needed.

Commissioner Tamara Pogue expressed concern about putting 75% of lodging tax revenue toward the road and bridge budget and taking funding away from housing. 

“However, I might be comfortable using the child care reserve that’s currently in the lodging tax (fund) to achieve the 75% goal for road and bridge,” Pogue said. 

The lodging tax fund is projected to end 2025 with nearly $2.7 million in reserves. Pogue said she would like to hear from Early Childhood Options, which manages early childhood services in Summit County, about if the organization would have objections to the county using those reserves for road and bridge funding.

Pogue said her concerns centered around the lodging tax child care reserves potentially being needed to support universal preschool for 3- to 5-year-olds, and commissioner Nina Waters said she agreed with Pogue’s idea to make sure Early Childhood Options would be comfortable with the reserves being spent elsewhere.

“I think it’s very unlikely they’d need to spend those lodging tax reserves before 2029,” Pogue said about Early Childhood Options. “But we need to include them.”

Commissioner Eric Mamula said he would be comfortable taking money out of housing’s lodging tax fund allocation to provide the road and bridge budget with the requested 75%.

The board directed staff to reach out to Early Childhood Options for its input on the board using lodging tax child care reserves for road and bridge and to report back at the next work session.

“Be like, ‘We would like to do this, but we don’t want to pull the rug underneath you, without you knowing or expecting it,'” Waters said.