Pitkin County’s 2025 $263 million budget will invest in infrastructure improvements, affordable housing and bolstering staff recruitment and retainment.
“It gives us the flexibility to be able to adapt to any kind of changing circumstances, whether in the local economy or in needs of the community,” PitCo Budget Director Connie Baker said at the Dec. 10 special meeting.
The budget is up $23 million from the adopted 2024 budget, partly due to the newly-approved affordable housing tax that’s set to bring in $8.5 million in 2025.
Capital expenditures are expected to hit $65.6 million in 2025, with much of that funding going toward road and bridge projects.
With a transfer from the general fund, the county budgeted to spend $12.5 million through the affordable and workforce housing fund.
As usual, the general fund is the largest share of the county budget at 21% or $55.4 million. The general fund will run on a $1.8 million deficit for 2025, but the five-year plan provides an average annual surplus of $236,093.
The deficit will support one-time expenditures like the county’s growth management Vision 2050 project. The general fund includes public safety, community development and internal services.
Both the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport and the Pitkin County Solid Waste Center have big projects slated on their five-year plans, though those funds are self-sufficient enterprise funds that do not sustain on taxpayer dollars.
The budget includes 11.675 FTEs, a budget measurement tool for full- and part-time employment positions.
Commissioner Patti Clapper voted to approve the budget, but said the number of new positions gave her pause.
“Some I think are justified. Some of them, I think, I’m not so comfortable with,” she said.
The wage increase pool for county employees will increase from 5% to 6%, which Baker said aid in the county’s efforts to retain its staff.
The budget also includes a five-year plan for each fund. Major expenditures coming up include the runway reconstruction project at the airport
The board also approved a resolution for the mill levy, or tax, rates. The county assessor’s office must send final certified values to the state by Dec. 10.
Most of the county funds are revenue limited by either state statute or the Home Rule Charter, meaning that they cannot collect tax revenue in line with property valuation increases — they are limited to 5.5% or the Denver Consumer Price Index, whichever is stricter.
To make sure they do not exceed that limit, temporary mill levy credits were applied to the general, translator, library, and Twining Flats General Road Improvement District funds.
The ambulance district fund is debruced, meaning voters approved the special tax district to collect full mill levies, but the fund decided to apply a 0.2 temporary mill levy credit. That adds up to about $900,000 less than they could have collected, Baker said.
Full budget documents are available at pitkincounty.com.