Citing fears that an impending dry summer will further erode sales tax revenue, Breckenridge town officials requested another review of the town’s annual budget.
Following a financial report at a meeting Tuesday, March 10, council member Dick Carleton said he wanted to revisit financial projections for the remainder of the year, anticipating potentially more of an economic downturn than initially expected.
“I feel a need to be more conservative in our forecast,” Carleton said.
Carleton requested town finance staff return to a council meeting before the summer — when next year’s budgets must be approved — with five-year market projections that he believes would more accurately predict market trends. Carleton said both national and local economic trends worry him. He suggested the council consider further reducing town operational expenses and consider investing in projects that bolster sales tax revenue.
“I’m personally becoming increasingly concerned with the economy going forward nationally, as well as the resort and ski town economy locally,” Carleton said. “I’m becoming increasingly more uncomfortable with these numbers. … I feel a need to reduce expenses and create some room to invest more on the revenue side.”
Finance director Laurie Best said reports from January and February show Breckenridge’s 2026 revenue forecast remains in line with last year’s estimates.
“So far, two months in, I think we’re going to be okay, but I think there’s a lot of unknown,” Best said.
Best agreed to return to council again with five-year projections using that more recently collected data. She noted the town’s operational budget sits at around $35-36 million.
“It is important for us to talk about what’s in the operational expenses, because that’s our general fund budget, which is essentially what we run the town on.”
Carleton again suggested the council reconsider its upcoming operational budget as soon as possible. He said he feels a pressing need to ensure the town’s budget will allow it to remain competitive with other tourism and resort economies in the region. Given that this year’s historically warm winter has already hampered Colorado’s tourism industry, Carleton said the town should consider reconfiguring its upcoming budget to permit more investments in tourism and guest experiences.
“I’m feeling a great urgency to take a look at it,” Carleton said of the town’s upcoming annual budget.
“I think we need to make some investments in guest-facing capital expenditures,” he said. “We haven’t done a lot to increase the guest experience in years, and I’m afraid if we keep sitting back, we’re going to lose market share.”