Special to the Daily
On Tuesday the Eagle County Board of Commissioners took a bold step toward addressing the local housing crisis.
Procedurally, commissioners approved a supplemental budget that transfers $5.4 million from the county’s general fund to its housing fund. Operationally, commissioners agreed to fund a series of programs officially called Bold Housing Moves designed to chip away at the local housing issue.
“I like it that this solution doesn’t try to build our way out of this crisis,” said Commissioner Kathy Chandler-Henry. She noted that building the number of needed new housing units would take several years and several million dollars and, put simply, the county doesn’t have that kind of money or that amount of time. But local officials have other tools to help local residents rent or purchase places they can call home.
An Eagle County crew completes a section of the Eagle Valley Trail during 2019. While the county’s budget for 2021 is a conservative spending plan, $2.4 million has been allocated to complete an EagleVail section of the trail, which will eventually run the length of the valley. (Daily file photo)
In these uncertain times it can be difficult to figure out household spending from one week to the next, so planning a $131 million budget for 2021 presents a unique challenge for Eagle County. a spending plan that anticipates a 15% drop in sales tax receipts at the beginning of the year and flat revenues over the coming 12 months as the county, nation and world hopefully begins its emergence into a post-COVID-19 era.