Steamboat Springs City Council and the Steamboat Resort have officially begun negotiations for a potential lift ticket tax to supplement the city’s dependence on a sales tax, with both parties emphasizing the need for collaboration while grappling with differing priorities. 

During Tuesday’s work session, council discussed takeaways from the first negotiation meeting on March 25, which was attended by City Manager Tom Leeson and council members Joella West and Bryan Swintek representing the city. 

“We did not get into a lot of depth in the first meeting,” Leeson said. “A lot of it was logistics — when are we going to meet — and we did start to have some conversations and then laid out a schedule.”

For West, the first meeting was procedural, setting the stage for deeper conversations in the coming months. 

“All we have now is a first meeting … what’s the problem that you’re trying to solve? Same question for both sides,” she said. “There was nothing substantive accomplished in that meeting, but the table was set for the next couple of meetings.”

Swintek highlighted early tensions between the city’s community-focused perspective and the resort’s business-oriented approach. 

“The resort sees things as trying to anchor things in numbers. Our visitors come in and they spend X and they cost us Y, and what’s fair would be covering the delta,” said Swintek. “We are coming from an angle that people feel the effects of the resort, people feel the effects of these investments you’re making.”

“The resort, very much as a for-profit business, is like, ‘We run a business, we have expenses, and this is another expense that we’re worried about’, and our point of view is what’s best for the community … but I agree that we didn’t agree on anything,” Swintek added. “There was discussion about … why does council always come to (the resort), and I think we answered pretty candidly, just saying, ‘You are the largest mountain over the city. It just is what it is.'”

One major challenge is access to data. The resort has been unwilling to disclose proprietary information, said West and Swintek, which complicates efforts to quantify impacts and revenue potential. 

“Their stance is, they’re a private, for-profit business, they don’t need to disclose things. If they do decide to disclose things in the meeting, they do not want that publicly disclosed,” said Swintek. “An example is the number of skiers. We asked for it and we were told no … it’s a data point they don’t publish, they don’t want to publish, and therefore it would be specific items like that.”

Council President Gail Garey expressed reservations about relying on confidential data, calling it a “red flag.”

“If we’re going to be making decisions that we need to justify to the community and we can’t share the information … that’s a slippery slope,” Garey said.

“Any documents in your possession or in the city’s possession would be subject to disclosure under the Open Records Act,” City Attorney Dan Foote said. “Whether or not something is confidential is more of a fact question for a judge to decide.”

Councilor Amy Dickson cautioned against overreliance on single data points like skier visits without adequate context. Vail Resort, she said, reported a decrease in skier visits last year, but an increase in lift ticket revenue.

Council members are also debating how funds from the potential lift tax should be allocated. Garey emphasized transit as a priority, particularly addressing congestion caused by visitors, which West said would be a major subject at the next negotiation meeting on April 10. 

“If we can use this to get more express (Steamboat Springs Transit) buses in the morning to the mountains … or reinstating after-midnight service, that would be great,” said Garey. “We could tie in (the tax) … to expand the bus service so that it’s directly related to and driven by our visitors to the ski mountain.”

Councilor Dakotah McGinlay raised broader concerns about housing and short-term rental impacts tied to resort operations. “If (the resort is) not providing housing for all those employees … then that burden is also on the city or surrounding communities,” McGinlay said.

Steamboat Resort has consistently opposed using lift ticket tax revenue for the city’s general fund but has indicated it is willing to support transportation initiatives such as forming a Regional Transportation Authority.

“We’re still figuring out the funding mechanisms … a lot of which will be determined on the polling that we’re going to start doing, and that’s really what’s going to change the conversation or confirm the conversation with the RTA funding,” said Councilor Michael Buccino, who represents the city on the RTA formation committee. 

Buccino also underscored the importance of maintaining a collaborative tone with the resort.

“We’re here to build a continued partnership with the largest employer that draws a boatload of people to Steamboat Springs,” Buccino said. “We need to respect the fact that they’re bringing people to Steamboat Springs, that’s already increasing our sales tax to where it is. We’re just asking them for a little bit more … let’s not be adversarial.”

McGinlay countered that while she appreciates the partnership with the resort, tough questions shouldn’t be viewed as confrontational. “This is me looking at this from the community’s perspective,” she said. “What would do the best service to our community — not just to the private business.”

Buccino argued that focusing on shared goals could strengthen negotiations. 

“Let’s work around (the nonnegotiables), let’s not make them negative,” said Buccino. “Let’s just say, ‘OK, within those nonnegotiables, can we come up with a deal? Work together.”

Swintek emphasized a preference for steering discussion on lift-tax specifics to the upcoming executive session that evening before presenting proposals publicly. 

“We need to come as a united force,” Swintek said. “Are we trying to leave without going to a ballot, or do we still want to go to a ballot? That’s the question.”

Leeson clarified that the two are not mutually exclusive — the city could come to an agreement with the resort and still implement a ballot initiative. 

Following the work session, council convened for its regular meeting, and then went into executive session to discuss specific funding goals from the lift tax, whether to tie RTA funding to the tax and if they are interested in proceeding to a ballot initiative.

The April 10 meeting will delve into nonnegotiables and funding priorities, aiming to move closer toward an agreement between council and the resort on the potential lift tax. 

Leeson expressed optimism about potential progress. “I think this will move relatively quickly,” he said. “I think that’s the intent of both parties.”