Breckenridge, Vail battling over proposed lift ticket tax
By Jason Blevins, Denver Post
Breckenridge voters will decide on a lift-ticket tax to cover for parking and transit upgrades after the town and Vail Resorts failed to reach an agreement on funding.
Town leaders wanted the resort operator to support a town-wide transit plan that includes a parking garage, pedestrian access, road improvements and employee parking lots. That plan carries an annual operating budget of $4 million to $6 million. Vail Resorts said it was only willing to cover the majority of the cost of a new parking structure — either on its own land near the gondola or at the downtown F-Lot.
The impasse led Breckenridge to say on Monday that it will ask voters to approve an “admissions tax” — similar to the 4 percent parking and transit tax the Town of Vail charges on lift ticket sales — to fund the transit plan.