When the Town Board met last week, the Trustees had a 679-page meeting packet to review, which included information about the Town’s 2024 and 2025 audits, as well as the Town’s 2026 budget.
The Estes Park Town audit for 2024 was delayed because the Loveland Housing Authority, which handles the financial information for the Estes Park Housing Authority, submitted information late, causing a delay in the Estes Park Town audit.
The Board accepted the delivery of the audited financial statements for 2024 and appointed the same company, Haynie and Company, to perform the 2025 audit.
Additionally, on the Board’s agenda was the holding of the first public hearing for the Town’s 2026 proposed budget. This hearing will continue on Nov. 12 with anticipated approval from the Board.
Finance Director Tammy Zimmerman reported the Town has a projected revenue of $85 million and expenses of around $88 million. The 2025 budget had $79.7 million in revenue and $88.5 million in spending. Additions to the 2026 budget include a seasonal parking and transit assistant, some capital improvement plans, and the possible location of a new police department.
Estes Park resident John Guffy expressed concern during the public comment period about the idea of a new police station, calling it unnecessary.
The Board heard a report on the National Community Survey Results from Kate Miller, the Town’s public information officer. The survey is conducted biannually and used by more than 300 communities across the country. The Town has participated in the study seven times since 2011.
“Conducting it consistently and for such a long period of time really reflects the Town’s commitment to hearing from our residents and continuing to ask the questions,” said Miller. “It’s an important source of information for informing our decisions.”
A key finding from the survey was that more than 80% of residents in Estes Park value the Town as a place to live with a high quality of life. The natural environment of the town was also a strength, but economic perceptions, housing affordability, and cost of living remained challenges.
In other business the Board approved the eligibility of annexation of the property at the Riverside Drive Townhomes development. The 2.62-acre property, purchased by the EPHA in July of 2023, is not officially annexed into the Town yet but is slated for 10-12 workforce housing townhome-style homeownership opportunities.
At a meeting of the EPHA,
to pause the project for the time being,” said Levine. “For 2026 and 2027, we plan to utilize the vast majority of our development funds to ensure that the Fish Hatchery project successfully gets underway.”
The Town expects to allocate $4.4 million of the 6E Workforce Housing and Childcare Lodging Tax funds to the Estes Park Housing Authority and allocate $1.1 million for childcare. The dedicated revenue stream of money is generated by a 5.5% bed tax approved by voters in November 2022.
Funds allocated for childcare are used for tuition assistance to help parents pay for childcare, to provide out-of-school programs, to supplement wages for the childcare workforce and provide continuing education and training for childcare workers, and for facility expansion.
In a report to the Board, Scott Moulton, executive director of the Estes Park Housing Authority said the agency is “moving with speed, but with purpose, grounded by our mission.”
The Board also heard a proposal by Trevor Whittwer, the Estes Park engineer, regarding changes under consideration to the Este Park Visitor Center parking lot to better accommodate busses. One plan would relocate all bus traffic to the Estes Park Visitor Center Parking Lot and another would involve a new pull off lane along Big Thompson Avenue. Concerns about reduction in available parking spaces and public safety were discussed and the Trustees were interested in having the engineer pursue additional design plans with the Town’s design consultant, Kimley-Horn for the pull off lane.
The next meeting of the Town Board will be Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. rather than Tuesday, Nov. 11 because of the observation of Veterans Day on Nov. 11.