Glenwood Springs City Council will give the West Mountain Regional Housing Coalition $300,000 over the next three years for its Good Deeds Program.
Councilors voted 6 to 1, with Mitchell Weimer casting the sole dissenting vote, to give $100,000 per year through 2027.
The program pays the down payment costs in exchange for a permanent deed restriction for homes purchased from Aspen to Parachute.
The goal of the program is to increase homeownership opportunities for working locals without building new units.
The coalition spends an average of $260,000 per home to obtain the affordable deed restriction.
And it’s already closing on a house this year.
“That house is kind of notable,” said Kevin Rays, housing development manager for the city.
“It was previously used as a short-term rental, and now it’s going to be housing a full-time resident, who is a single mother of two kids,” he added. “And she works for the school district. I can’t think of a better story than that.”
The town of Snowmass Village has also promised $250,000 this year to the program, which was founded in 2023 and funded by participating jurisdictions from Aspen to Glenwood Springs.
The money will come from the city’s 2c Workforce Housing Fund and the amount was recommended by the city’s Workforce Housing Fund Advisory Board.
The fund brings in approximately $1.7 million per year and it currently has just over $2 million of unallocated dollars. Glenwood Springs’ $100,000 in 2025 represents approximately 6% of the annual budget.
Last year, Glenwood Springs committed $200,000, and questions arose about why this year’s contribution was less than last.
Glenwood Springs City Council Member Sumner Schachter said that this seemed like a reasonable number for a three-year commitment, and last year was the pilot year of the program, which is why more money was committed up front.
“It’s still unfolding and there’s room to leverage more,” he said. “No question that the pilot was successful.”
Schachter also serves as the city council liaison to the Workforce Housing Fund Housing Board and Housing Commission.
He said he is also looking to leverage money for the preservation of mobile home parks in Glenwood Springs.
In addition to funds from local governments, Executive Director April Long said the coalition will grow operating dollars by increasing funds from other large employers in the region.
“We hope we can fund the programs we intend to launch with large philanthropic dollars and we have a corporation that is considering contributions to our organization right now to the tune of $2 million a year for the next few years,” she said.
West Mountain will host a strategic growing session in March to discuss more targeted approaches for the programs it intends to launch in the coming years.
In December, Long came to the city council to provide an update on the progress of the Good Deeds Program.
Last year, Pitkin County contributed $1 million, the city of Aspen $450,000, the town of Snowmass Village $250,000, the city of Glenwood Springs $200,000, the town of Carbondale $100,000, for a total of $2 million in the program’s inaugural year.
All of these jurisdictions are members of the coalition, as well as the town of Basalt, Eagle County, the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority and Colorado Mountain Local College District. Each one of these donated $20,000, and West Mountain received $150,000 in state grants.
In 2024, the program helped purchase eight homes for locals. All of the houses are in Garfield County, and four of the houses were in Glenwood Springs city limits. All four homes were within walking and/or biking distance from the owners’ places of employment and their children’s schools.
