Colorado Mountain Towns Feel Economic Pain After Historic Dry Winter

By Bernadette Berdychowski | Colorado Politics

Rocky, snow‑starved slopes. Rivers rising too soon. Resorts shutting down in April. Drought rules spreading statewide.

These aren’t just signs of a bad winter — they’re red flags.

And now another one is flashing across the Rockies: falling sales‑tax revenues that threaten the budgets and stability of mountain towns already stretched thin.

Sales‑tax revenues — a key measure of local spending and a major source of city funding — dropped across many Colorado mountain towns in the first months of the year, largely because the unusually dry winter kept visitors away.

In December, some towns saw only slight declines or even small gains. In Breckenridge, businesses said tourists who had already booked their trips and couldn’t cancel still spent more time and money in town during the busy holiday season, despite the poor snow conditions.

But by January, declines had spread across nearly every mountain town.

February’s data shows how steep the drop became: taxable sales fell 10% in Vail, 2.5% in Steamboat Springs, 3% in Frisco, and nearly 7% in Glenwood Springs, according to a Mountain Communities Report by Steamboat Springs officials.

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