Eagle County assessed valuation down a third
EAGLE, Colo.—The changed fortunes of the economy of Vail and Eagle County are evident at every turn. Last year, an 11,000-square-foot home at the Cordillera Valley Club, 10 miles west of Vail, was on the market for $9.5 million. Last Thursday, the house was sold at auction for $4.6 million.
For homeowners, thinking they were sitting on bonanzas of ever-escalating property values, this has all come as a shock. But now the waves have hit local governments, who must figure out how to reduce services and costs in proportion to reduced revenues. Eagle County's appraised valuation has dropped from $3.5 billion two years ago to $2.5 billion this year.
Airline flights shrink as lodging tax declines
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo.—With lodging rates ratcheted down, lodging taxes collected have declined 35 percent in Steamboat Springs during the past two years. And that means fewer plane seats available to future customers.
The lodging tax is a key funding source for the airline program. Like several other resorts, including Vail and Telluride, Steamboat Springs provides money to airlines if the airlines do not carry enough passengers.
Last year, Steamboat cut back the number of available seats by 13 percent, and a similar cut is planned for this winter. But Sandy Evans-Hall, executive vice president of the Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association, warns against cutting back too much, because fewer tourists will then mean less lodging revenue, and hence a downward spiral.
The Steamboat Pilot reports that local officials are considering whether additional tax revenues can be lined up. The marketing district, which arranges the flights, is using $500,000 of its $1 million reserve fund for this winter's flights.
Skiers want tighter regulation of 'sleds'
JACKSON, Wyo.—A coalition of conservation groups has begun pushing the U.S. Forest Service to treat snowmobiles and other over-snow vehicles as "indistinguishable from other classes of (off-road-vehicles) in terms of impacts."
"Technology has changed. Snowmobiles go places where nobody imagined they could go," said Forrest McCarthy, public lands director with the Winter Wildlands Alliance, based in Jackson.
The Jackson Hole News says McCarthy's group is one of the groups circulating a petition—not just in Jackson, but in snowbelt states with public lands. They contend that snowmobilers were improperly excluded from a 2005 federal rule.
The Idaho-based Blue Ribbon Coalition, an advocacy group for motorized users, rejects the call.
"This is just another effort on the part of extremist groups to take another bite at the apple to try and get closures, to exclude any kind of motorized use," said Gregg Mumm, the group's executive director.
Mumm said snowmobiles don't actually travel on the ground, so do not fall into the same category of motorized restrictions.
Newer, more powerful snowmobiles can stay afloat in powder snow more easily, allowing access to areas that backcountry skiers had long sought out for their quiet and untrammeled snow.
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Schwarzenegger vetoes ski safety bill
TRUCKEE, Calif. — California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed legislation that would have imposed the toughest ski safety standards in the United States.
The law would have mandated ski resorts to prepare annual safety plans. Proponents say the mandated information would have given consumers more information in deciding whether to ski and snowboard.
"By obtaining data specific to the ski resorts, individuals and families would have been able to make informed decisions about their own snow sport experiences," said Dr. Dan Gregorie.
Schwarzenegger, according to the Sierra Sun, said the bill might "place an unnecessary burden on resorts, without assurance of a significant reduction in ski and snowboard-related injuries and fatalities."
'Green' project slowed by water concerns
ASPEN, Colo.—Aspen officials have at least temporarily slowed their review of a small hydroelectric plant. As originally proposed, the plant would save Aspen $41,000 a year in electricity costs and expand the carbon-free portfolio from an existing 75 percent to about 80 percent.
But people who live along the creek where the water would be temporarily diverted say the amount of diversion would be unacceptable.
