VAIL, Colo.—With Vail Resorts and other area businesses spending more than $1 billion on improvements to keep drawing visitors, the city is asking voters to approve a 4 percent use tax to pay for infrastructure maintenance.
The city, home to one of the nation’s busiest ski resorts, has already committed itself to spend $25.8 million more than it has in its capital budget.
Voters will decide on Tuesday whether to pass the tax to cover the shortfall.
Town Manager Stan Zemler said even if the measure is defeated, the city will push ahead. “I think everything will be looked at, as it always is, on an annual basis,” he told the Vail Daily.
Most of the $25.8 million doesn’t include amenities, said Zemler. “Is there a rec center on this list? Is there a mountain slide? Is there a swimming pool?” Zemler said.
And Vail must spend money on heating its streets—unlike the bedroom communities where many of its employees live.
“It’s all part of an ambiance you might not necessarily do in Eagle and Gypsum,” he said.
The tax would pay for more noise walls on Interstate 70, improvements to the aging Town Hall, renovations to employee housing in West Vail, a new bus station for Lionshead as well as upgrades to frontage roads.
Also to be repaired are curbs and gutters, and fire trucks will be refurbished. New street lights will be installed.
