S t e a m b o at
today
Tuesday November 17, 2009
Steamboat Springs, Colorado
FREE
®
Vol. 21, No. 275
RO U T T
C O U N T Y ’ S
DA I LY
N E W S PA P E R
www.steamboatpilot.com
S t e a m b o at s p r i n g s
Discussing health care Senior policy adviser comes to Steamboat Springs to talk about reform issues Page 3
S t e a m b o at S p r i n g s
Salaries approved Steamboat Springs School Board OKs pay increase for directors, administrators Page 11
sports
John F. Russell/staff
Construction on the new $2.5 million Millennium Bank Building in the Wildhorse Marketplace is well under way.The Steamboat Springs City Council is expected to vote tonight on a proposal that will raise building permit fees on future construction. The measure is meant to offset declining revenues in the building department.
Fee boost sought
Struggling building department seeks 58 percent fee increase Tom Ross
For more
PILOT & TODAY STAFF
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS
QB status unknown Page 17
■ lotto
■ Index Briefs . . . . . . . . 10 Classifieds . . . . 24 Colorado . . . . . . 31 Comics . . . . . . . 22 Crossword . . . . 23 Happenings . . . . 7
The Steamboat Springs City Council is expected to vote tonight on a proposal to raise building permit and plan check fees by 58 percent to help off set declining revenues collected by the building department. A similar measure is being con sidered by the Routt County Board of Commissioners. Routt County Building Dep
Horoscope . . . . 22 Nation . . . . . . . . 32 Scoreboard . . . .21 Sports . . . . . . . . 17 The Record . . . .10 ViewPoints . . . . . 8
Monday night’s Cash 5 numbers: 1-4-17-20-24 Drawings are held Monday through Saturday.
For more about the City Council’s meeting tonight, see page 5.
artment Official Carl Dunham said Monday that he already has reduced his staff from 13.7 full-time equivalent employees to nine. But slipping revenues sug gest more cuts could be neces sary if the construction industry doesn’t turn around. The building department is feeling the same fiscal squeeze
■ weather
Sunshine. High of 45.
Page 31
that building contractors are going through. “By raising fees, we can extend services. When things turn around, our hope is to be able to return to the lower fee structure,” Dunham said. The department’s fund bal ance has declined by about $800,000 this year, he said. “We started 2009 with $2.33 million in our operating fund,” Dunham wrote in a memo to the City Council. “With pro jected revenue of $600,000 in
2009, our fund will diminish to $1.53 million at the end of the year. We are budgeting that our level of construction will be consistent from 2009 to 2010.” If construction activity rem ains flat next year, and the fee increases are approved, the building department expects to receive $900,000 in revenues against a personnel and opera tions budget of $1.265 million. The deficit would eat further See Council, page 13
■ There’s more online For around-the-clock updates, breaking local news and sports scores, videos, photos and an interactive community forum, visit www.steamboatpilot.com.