Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct language regarding costs for projects in the 2025 budget.

As it gears up for what will be one of its most significant construction years ever, Silverthorne officials authorized the town to dole out around $82 million in expenditures in 2025 at a Nov. 13 meeting. This is a near $20 million bump in comparison to 2024 expenditures.

A project that finance director Laura Kennedy described to be larger than anything the town has undertaken in recent history, the Silverthorne Recreation Center expansion project, is one component of the budget and accounts for a $27.4 million spend.

She said the town is also getting started on the debt payment in 2025 for $29 million it borrowed and this contributes to the expenditures increase, too. The town plans to pay $2.5 million in debt payments in 2025 and another $2.5 million in 2026. Voters approved a 2% increase in lodging tax, taking it from 6% to 8% for 12 months, in an April 2 election so the town had adequate funding for the expansion. This ups the lodging tax revenues from an expected $2.5 million in 2024 to $3 million in 2025.

The 23,000 square-foot expansion includes a viewing area, more gym space and a childcare center. Around $1.6 of the $29 million was used in 2024 for design and planning. Officials and town staff members felt the center was already overwhelmed and with anticipated population growth, an expansion was needed.

Kennedy said a new police station is another considerable project the town is preparing for and while the bulk of construction costs will be in 2026, $900,000 planning and design dollars are in the 2025 budget. Currently, the town anticipates putting $13.5 million toward construction of the station in 2026. 

Other notable expenditures include a $1 million project for a ramp for the bridge going over the Blue River outside the Silverthorne Pavilion, $1.37 million to upkeep and manage town facilities and $1.5 million in planning dollars for Stephens Way improvements.

The town purchased a handful of properties along Stephens Way over the last couple years with the intent of widening the road neighboring Interstate 70 exits. The price tag for the effort at-large is $32 million. Officials plan to add two more lanes to the road to improve traffic flow after a Colorado Department of Transportation analysis showed traffic through the area would increase 45% by 2045. The project is slated to happen in three phases, the first costing $15 million, the second costing $7 million and the third costing $10 million. Town staff members say there isn’t a set timeline for when the phases will start rolling out and it’s likely years down the road. 

Sales tax is a major fund contributor to municipal projects and the town is budgeting for a 3% increase year over year for the next couple years. In 2025 it anticipates collecting $4.7 million and for 2024 it budgeted $4.6 millions in collections. 

Another substantial contributor to the fund is the town’s Real Estate Transfer Assessment, where the town collects 1% of a property’s price when it is sold.

Based on a boom in development, the town is budgeting for a $350,000 increase in revenues. This takes the revenue from an anticipated $1.7 million in 2024 to around $2.1 million in 2025. 

“We do anticipate just more and more developments coming online, and we’re starting to get into the churn now where properties are just turning over (ownership),” Kennedy said.

Silverthorne saw a lot of movement in its housing market during 2024 and the Summit Combined Housing Authority held numerous lotteries for available properties in the town. With land available to build on and an expectation of people continuing to sell their existing properties to upgrade to larger ones, the town anticipates this fund will continue to grow and expects to collect $3 million from the assessment by 2028.

Thanks to new development projects on the docket, the town is planning to see a $105,000 in revenues from impact fees, which is $2 per square foot on new building projects. This boosts the revenue from around $344,000 to around $450,000.