The Estes Park Housing Authority’s delayed 2025 audit drew frustration from board members Tuesday, with Town Trustee Frank Lancaster warning that the delay has also put the Town of Estes Park behind schedule on its own annual audit.
At the same meeting, Housing Authority officials wrestled with another issue increasingly pressing on the Estes Valley: where hundreds of seasonal workers — including J-1 exchange visitors, other international workers, and American seasonal employees — are supposed to live, and what role public lodging tax dollars should play in providing that housing.
The Housing Authority’s 2025 financial audit is now complete and resulted in a clean opinion. But board Chair Eric Blackhurst questioned why an audit covering 2025 was not finished until August.
Lancaster, who serves as the Estes Park Town Board liaison to the Housing Authority, said the consequences extend beyond the agency to impact the Town.
We don’t like being late during our audit,” said Lancaster. He suggested the Housing Authority may need to reconsider its auditors.
Housing Authority Executive Director Scott Moulton acknowledged the frustration and said he had pushed so aggressively for completion that “I damaged that relationship a little bit because I pushed hard.”
Moulton described the current financial system in place as a “dinosaur” and said he expects a planned accounting system conversion to improve the process next year.
The delayed audit discussion came as the Housing Authority also reviewed its financial position and a draft 2027 plan for spending revenue from the voter-approved 6E lodging tax extension, which dedicates money to workforce housing and childcare.
For the first time, the annual funding plan specifically calls out seasonal housing as a concern, and the Housing Authority is already participating on a limited scale.
Jessica Moffitt, the Housing Authority’s property management director, said there are 13 units of housing at Fall River Village being used for 32 seasonal workers this summer, including J-1 exchange visitors placed through sponsoring organizations, international workers who come to Estes Park independently, and seasonal workers from the United States.
Three Housing Authority units are specifically used for J-1 master leases, with four people in each unit and two people per bedroom. Other international seasonal workers rent directly from the Housing Authority rather than through an employer or master lease arrangement.
These distinctions matter as community leaders try to determine the size and nature of Estes Park’s seasonal housing problem and what types of housing are needed to meet demand.
Seasonal housing could become more urgent as several major commercial developments move forward in the Estes Valley. Moulton cited projects involving The Stanley, Elkhorn Lodge, and The Historic Crags Lodge as developments that could increase pressure on the seasonal labor and housing markets.
Building housing specifically for seasonal employees, however, presents a financial challenge because units could sit vacant for substantial portions of the year. Moulton said a development expecting a 40% to 50% seasonal vacancy rate becomes extremely difficult to finance without substantial subsidies.
Carly Speedlin, the housing and childcare manager for the Town, said the Town and Housing Authority must work within the language approved by voters under the 6E ballot measure, which specifically directs the lodging tax revenue toward workforce housing.
The draft funding plan is expected to go before the Town Board on Sept.8, the same night trustees are scheduled to hold a study session on seasonal and senior housing.
Blackhurst expressed concern that the draft did not include the logo of the Estes Park Housing Authority to show representation and recognition of the housing authority’s part in developing the draft.
Speedlin explained that, as the Town’s housing and childcare manager, she was the principal author of the draft, with input and review from the housing authority.
The funding plan also spells out that the 6E lodging tax is expected to generate approximately $6.3 million in 2027.
Blackhurst cautioned that the Housing Authority should not lose sight of its longstanding mission as pressure grows for it to take a larger role in seasonal housing.
“Seasonal housing has been an issue since this organization was put in place,” Blackhurst said.
He said the Housing Authority has historically considered seasonal employee housing primarily the responsibility of private employers that depend on those workers. Properties designed specifically for seasonal occupancy can be difficult for the Housing Authority to sustain because each property must support its own financing.
Blackhurst said 6E funding has allowed the agency to provide some assistance, but he distinguished that work from the Housing Authority’s central mission.
“I think our primary focus is on our permanent residents in Estes Park,” he said.
The Housing Authority is nevertheless participating in broader discussions about possible private-sector solutions. Members of the Housing Authority board and staff met last week with Dan Bullock, CEO and president of Holtz Companies/Holtz Builders, Inc., and a co-founder of International Residence Hall, the nation’s largest housing provider for BridgeUSA J-1 work-travel participants, H2B laborers, and U.S. interns.
Bullock’s company has built dormitory-style seasonal workforce housing in other tourism communities in six states.
Pete Levine, director of real estate development at the Estes Park Housing Authority, said he spent about eight hours with Bullock learning about their model, including projects serving J-1 workers in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, and other seasonal tourism markets.
Levine said such a private development could complement rather than replace the Housing Authority’s work.
“It’s a different model than what we’ve done previously or what our core competencies are,” Levine said. “I would be supportive if they’re able to come to the market and try to accomplish something like that because I think it would be a complement to what we’re able to do as a housing authority.”
The conversations have also reached the Town’s ongoing development code rewrite, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Moulton said Housing Authority officials have asked Town staff to consider dormitory-style housing or redevelopment where appropriate. Officials believe earlier drafts did not go far enough to accommodate true dorm-style projects, and Town staff agreed to discuss the issue further with consultants.
For Blackhurst, the emerging question is not whether Estes Park has a seasonal housing problem, but how responsibility for solving it should be divided among employers, private developers, the Town, and the Housing Authority.
The Housing Authority can participate, particularly where 6E money legally provides an avenue to do so, he said, but the organization’s primary mission is to provide housing for people who live and work in the Estes Valley year-round.