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The Telluride Project

Part two of three

Fix what's broken

Some of what holds Telluride back is not a shortage of money or land. It is systems that stopped working: a housing program with empty homes, tax bills nobody can follow, and a feud that helps no one.

The housing program

About forty homes the public already owns are empty tonight. About 240 households are waiting for one.

The problem

The Town owns and manages 212 rental units. As of October 6, 2026, about 19% were vacant, while the Town listed roughly 240 households on its waiting list. In spring 2026 the Town reported 49 of 201 apartments empty, nearly 25%. Comparable mountain towns run 2% to 5%, mostly units between tenants.

The causes are known. In 2024 the Town rewrote its rules after an audit found more than 57% of tenants out of compliance. The new system ties rent to household income, so rent climbs when a household earns more. Units were offered one applicant at a time down a stale list. Most properties require a year of local work history before a person can rent.

There is proof it can be fixed. When the Town suspended the waitlist in April 2026 and offered units to everyone at once, vacancy fell to 6% to 8% by July. By October it had climbed back.

Meanwhile, voters declined to raise the Town's housing debt limit from $18 million to $64 million in November 2025.

Sources: Town of Telluride rental housing, Telluride Times, October 2026, Colorado Sun, April 2026, Town policy announcement, 2024, Housing Authority memo, 2024, KOTO, July 2026, KOTO, November 2025, HousingWire

The plan, step one: fill the empty homes

  • Replace the waitlist with continuous open applications.
  • Publish a monthly scorecard: vacancy rate and days to re-lease, with a target under 5%.
  • Reprice units that do not match what applicants can pay.

The plan, step two: simplify the rules

  • A short digital application, with pre-approval good for a year.
  • Accept a local job offer in place of a year of work history, so new teachers and nurses can move here.
  • End the rent treadmill. Rent should not jump every time a household earns more. Check income at entry and set a high ceiling at renewal.
  • Keep units for local workers. Simple rules must still be enforceable rules.

Who can make these decisions

  • Open applications, vacancy scorecards, repricing, pre-approval, work-history eligibility, income/rent rules, and enforcement: Telluride Housing Authority commissioners; staff implement the adopted rules. Town Council approves any needed Town funding.

Public contacts checked November 10, 2026. A shared office contact is labeled when a direct work address is not confirmed. Public bodies decide collectively, not through one member acting alone.

Telluride Housing Authority

The council members also serve as Housing Authority commissioners; rental-policy decisions belong to the Authority, with Town funding decisions made by Council.

Source: Official directory

Why it works

Filling the empty units is the fastest and cheapest housing the Town can deliver: about 40 homes without pouring a foundation. It gives voters results before asking them for money. And the Town has already shown it can be done.

Fair questions

  • Won't simpler rules bring back the loopholes? The 2024 rules answered a real fairness problem. The fix is rules that are short and enforced, not rules so complex that homes sit empty.
  • If rents stop rising with income, who covers the gap? That is a real cost, and the Town should publish it. Empty units cost more: every vacant home collects no rent at all.

Weigh in

Fill the empty public homes

Weigh in

Simplify the housing rules

Property taxes

People here will pay for what they believe in. They want to be asked first, and to see where the money went.

The problem

In the 2025 reappraisal, assessed values countywide rose about 22% for homes and 32% for commercial property. When values jump and tax rates stay flat, every taxing district collects more without a vote.

Most of the bill does not go to the Town. In 2025 the Town of Telluride levied about $2.9 million in property tax. The fire district levied about $12.2 million. Schools, the county, transit, and other districts take the rest.

Some have already acted. San Miguel County lowered its general levy for 2026 and gave up about $1.5 million. Mountain Village capped its 2026 increase at 10% and returned about $1.2 million. But there is no common standard. State law limits most local governments to 5.25% yearly growth in property tax revenue unless voters waive the limit. Many local districts have waived it, and home rule towns like Telluride are exempt. Many levies also have no end date.

Sources: Assessor's report, county abstract, county certification for 2026, Mountain Village budget memo, assessor's presentation, legal summary of the state limit

The plan: one standard for everyone

  • Every body that taxes Telluride property commits publicly to the state's 5.25% yearly limit on property tax revenue growth, whether or not the law requires it, and credits back anything above it.
  • The Town leads by writing the limit into its charter.
  • A public scoreboard shows who has committed.

The plan: sunlight and sunsets

  • One page, the whole bill: every district's rate, revenue, and growth since 2022.
  • New levies expire after a set number of years unless voters renew them.
  • Existing open-ended levies get a public report every few years on what they bought.

The plan: relief for residents

  • Colorado requires uniform tax rates, so a resident-only rate is not possible. A rebate funded from visitor-driven revenue is. Denver refunds part of property tax, or the equivalent in rent, to qualifying residents: up to $1,800 for homeowners and $1,000 for renters.
  • Telluride should study an income-tested version that includes renters.
  • Work with other resort towns to ask the state for a primary-residence tax class.

Source: Denver Property Tax Relief Program

Who can make these decisions

  • Revenue-growth commitments, credits, rates, and periodic levy reports: each taxing body must decide for its own district; council cannot bind the school, fire, hospital, library, county, or SMART boards.
  • Town charter limit: Council can initiate the proposal; Town voters decide a charter amendment. New/renewed levies require the applicable board and voter approvals.
  • Whole-bill scoreboard and income-tested resident/renter rebate study: Town Council leads with the districts and county.
  • Primary-residence tax classification: local legislators can sponsor state legislation.

Public contacts checked November 10, 2026. A shared office contact is labeled when a direct work address is not confirmed. Public bodies decide collectively, not through one member acting alone.

Telluride Mayor and Town Council

Source: Official directory

Mountain Village Town Council

Whole council: council@mtnvillage.org.

Source: Official directory

San Miguel County Commissioners

Whole board: bocc@sanmiguelcountyco.gov; office: 970-728-3844.

Source: Official directory

Telluride School District Board of Education

These are the five voting board members. Student ex officio representatives provide input rather than the governing votes on budgets and 5A reporting.

Source: Official directory

Telluride Fire Protection District Board

For board correspondence use the shared district office or public contact form. Individual board email addresses are not confirmed.

Source: Official directory

Telluride Hospital District Board

The district publishes a shared board-administration contact, not individual director email addresses. Ask that your message be forwarded to all directors; any operating partner must separately agree to its clinical obligations.

Source: Official directory

SMART Board of Directors

Source: Official directory

SMART implementation and project contacts

Source: Official directory

San Miguel County Public Library District Board

The library publishes a shared contact form rather than individual trustee addresses.

Source: Official directory

Colorado state legislation

These local legislators can sponsor a primary-residence tax proposal; passage requires both legislative chambers and the Governor, not a local council vote.

Source: Official directory

The boards listed cover the districts identified in this plan, not every possible special district on every parcel. Any additional levy on a particular bill must be referred to that district’s own governing board.

Why it works

It is fair, it is legal, and neighbors have already done it. A common limit asks no district to cut what voters approved. It asks only that money nobody voted for goes back to the people who paid it. And once the whole bill is on one page, every future tax question starts from shared facts.

Fair questions

  • Doesn't this starve the schools and fire department? No. The limit still allows growth every year, and voters can approve more whenever they choose. This plan supports the taxes voters approved, including this year's school measure.
  • Is 5.25% a year even a small number? It is not small. It is the limit most of Colorado already lives under, which makes it a reasonable place to start.

Weigh in

One tax-growth standard for every district

Weigh in

The whole bill on one page, and sunsets on new taxes

Weigh in

Study a rebate for residents

The feud with the mountain

This is a ski town. The mountain and Main Street rise and fall together, and it is time they pulled together.

The problem

The past year brought a ski patrol strike, a closed mountain, the resignations of two elected leaders and a town manager, and lawsuits that are still pending. Two outside investigations followed: the Town of Telluride expected a bill of $100,000 to $150,000, and Mountain Village budgeted $350,000.

The investigations found that officials had tried to negotiate a purchase of the ski resort without the knowledge of their councils. Whatever the intentions, the lesson is plain. Back channels fail.

Source: Colorado Sun, July 2026

The plan

  • A standing public forum of the Town, Mountain Village, the county, and the ski company, with agendas and minutes.
  • No side deals. Agreements are approved by elected bodies in open session.
  • Put everything on one table: hotel rooms, employee housing, lift investment, water, and the gondola. Each side gives something and gets something.

Who can make these decisions

  • Public forum, agendas/minutes, no side deals, and the package of hotel, housing, lift, water, and gondola commitments: Telluride Council, Mountain Village Council, County Commissioners, and ski-company ownership; each public body approves its own commitments.

Public contacts checked November 10, 2026. A shared office contact is labeled when a direct work address is not confirmed. Public bodies decide collectively, not through one member acting alone.

Telluride Mayor and Town Council

Source: Official directory

Mountain Village Town Council

Whole council: council@mtnvillage.org.

Source: Official directory

San Miguel County Commissioners

Whole board: bocc@sanmiguelcountyco.gov; office: 970-728-3844.

Source: Official directory

Telluride Ski & Golf

  • Chuck Horning, owner — public resort office: info@telski.com; 970-728-6900. Ask for ownership/management correspondence to be forwarded. An individual owner email is not confirmed.

Source: Official directory

Source: Ownership reporting, July 2026

Why it works

Both sides have things the other needs. The towns control zoning and approvals. The ski company controls the mountain and much of the land around it. A deal made in public, where everyone can see the trade, is the only kind that survives the next disagreement.

Fair questions

  • Why would the ski company come to the table? Because the towns hold what it has said it most needs: approval for more hotel rooms. See the Forward page.
  • Hasn't the company walked away from commitments before? It has, including a planned gondola contribution. That is why terms should be written, public, and tied to approvals.

Weigh in

A public forum with the ski company

Accountable government

Trust is not asked for. It is earned, one kept promise at a time.

The problem

In the Town's 2025 survey, 33% of residents expressed confidence in town government and 40% rated the value of services for taxes paid positively. In November 2025, voters rejected new housing debt and also rejected a measure requiring public votes on large projects, by about 63% to 37%. The message: residents want better results, not a town that cannot act.

Sources: 2025 Community Survey, KOTO, November 2025

The plan

  • Public scorecards for housing vacancy, project budgets, and schedules, updated monthly.
  • A financial summary before every major vote: total cost, funding sources, and the yearly cost to operate.
  • A yearly report on outside consultants: what was spent, on what, and what came of it.
  • Early notice. Residents hear about major proposals at the concept stage, not after the plans are drawn.
  • Ask for specific things. Voters approve named projects with budgets, not open-ended authority.
  • Respect for the town's character. Resident ratings for preserving historic and cultural character fell from 75% to 67% in one year. Scale, height, and design matter in every project.
  • Wildfire readiness. The share of residents who feel safe from fire or natural disaster fell from 70% to 51%. Evacuation plans deserve the same public attention as any building project.

Who can make these decisions

  • Monthly scorecards, pre-vote financial summaries, consultant reports, early notice, and named project budgets: Town Council directs Town staff. Voters decide ballot measures.
  • Historic character, scale, height, and design: Council’s land-use policies and the applicable P&Z/HARC reviews.
  • Wildfire and evacuation readiness: Council, County Commissioners, and fire district coordinate their emergency services.

Public contacts checked November 10, 2026. A shared office contact is labeled when a direct work address is not confirmed. Public bodies decide collectively, not through one member acting alone.

Telluride Mayor and Town Council

Source: Official directory

Telluride Planning & Zoning Commission

Individual contact details are not listed in the member directory. Ask Town Hall to route correspondence to the commission. P&Z handles specified land-use approvals; it is not the body that appropriates Town money.

  • Angela Dye, Chair — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Kathy Green, Vice Chair — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Todd Brown — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Lee Shea Betten — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Peter Sante — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Shayni Saftler, Alternate — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Marcin Ostromecki, Alternate — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.

Source: Official directory

Telluride Historic & Architectural Review Commission

Individual contact details are not listed in the member directory. Ask Town Hall to route correspondence to HARC for the applicable historic and design review.

  • Mark Shambaugh, Chair — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Stacy Lake, Vice Chair — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Matt Lee — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Robert Mather — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Andrew Williamson — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Sherry Gourlay, Alternate — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Troy Gulec, Alternate — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.

Source: Official directory

San Miguel County Commissioners

Whole board: bocc@sanmiguelcountyco.gov; office: 970-728-3844.

Source: Official directory

Telluride Fire Protection District Board

For board correspondence use the shared district office or public contact form. Individual board email addresses are not confirmed.

Source: Official directory

Why it works

None of this is expensive. It asks officials to publish what they already know, earlier and more plainly. Residents who can see the numbers are far more willing to say yes, and a town that hears objections early spends less on redesigns, appeals, and lawsuits later.

Fair questions

  • Is this an attack on town staff? No. Most of this is information staff already produce. Publishing it protects them too, because decisions made in the open are easier to defend.

Weigh in

Scorecards and cost summaries before votes

Carhenge: build it right, not just big

Everyone in town agrees locals should be able to live here. The question at Carhenge is whether the current plan is the smartest way to do it.

The problem

The Town plans 220 to 240 rental apartments at Carhenge, with about 10,000 square feet of commercial space and roughly 230 parking spaces. It sits at the base of Chair 7, on some of the most valuable land in the valley. The goal is right, but the plan has four gaps.

  • No one has published the real cost. The land is the biggest subsidy in the project, and the Town has not put a public value on it. Voters cannot judge a deal when the largest number is missing.
  • No one has shown who covers the yearly gap. When rents fall short of operating costs, the Town pays the difference, year after year.
  • The program it joins is not working yet. On October 6, 2026, 19% of the Town’s 212 rentals sat empty while about 240 people waited. Adding 220 more units to a system that cannot fill the ones it has is the wrong order.
  • It is one big bet. One site, one housing type, one phase. Rental apartments serve single workers and couples well, but they do not give families a reason to stay.

Sources: Carhenge concept, March 2026, Town Council goals, Rental housing, October 2026

A more balanced path

  • Keep homes for locals at Carhenge. Locals living in town, walking to work and school, is the point of this whole plan. That part should stay.
  • Build in phases, for a mix of incomes. Start smaller. Fill the first phase. Learn from it, then build the next.
  • Lease a slice of the site; never sell it. A ground lease for lodging or free-market use on part of the site keeps the land in public hands and produces income every year. That income can cover the operating gap.
  • Use the Town’s zoning power next door. The ski company wants to build 40 to 60 condo-hotel units on its own 10 acres beside Carhenge, and it needs a rezoning from the Town to do it. The Town can get visitor rooms at Chair 7 without giving up public land. In return, it should ask for employee housing, lift investment, and rooms that stay rooms.
  • Send part of the proceeds down-valley, to homes families can own. See “Homes for families.”
  • Publish the numbers first. Land value, construction cost, yearly operating gap, and who pays, before any vote.

Sources: Chair 7/Carhenge initial draft plan, July 2024, Chair 7/Carhenge neighborhood planning presentations, Lift 7 development background

Planning figures above are drawn from earlier proposals, not a newly verified final plan. The current 40 to 60 condo-hotel unit count and whether a public land appraisal has since been released still need confirmation. Any ground lease would also need legal review of recorded covenants and permitted uses.

Who can make these decisions

  • Homes on public land, phasing, income mix, ground lease, proceeds allocation, land appraisal, construction/operating budgets: Town Council as landowner/funder, with Housing Authority decisions for rental policy.
  • PUD/subdivision and historic/design approvals: P&Z and HARC as applicable; Council decides rezoning.
  • Next-door lodging commitments, employee housing, lifts, and permanent hotel-room restrictions: Town approval bodies and ski-company ownership.
  • Down-valley family ownership: Town, Mountain Village, County, and development partners; voters decide any borrowing or ballot measure that requires a vote.

Public contacts checked November 10, 2026. A shared office contact is labeled when a direct work address is not confirmed. Public bodies decide collectively, not through one member acting alone.

Telluride Housing Authority

The council members also serve as Housing Authority commissioners; rental-policy decisions belong to the Authority, with Town funding decisions made by Council.

Source: Official directory

Telluride Planning & Zoning Commission

Individual contact details are not listed in the member directory. Ask Town Hall to route correspondence to the commission. P&Z handles specified land-use approvals; it is not the body that appropriates Town money.

  • Angela Dye, Chair — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Kathy Green, Vice Chair — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Todd Brown — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Lee Shea Betten — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Peter Sante — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Shayni Saftler, Alternate — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Marcin Ostromecki, Alternate — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.

Source: Official directory

Telluride Historic & Architectural Review Commission

Individual contact details are not listed in the member directory. Ask Town Hall to route correspondence to HARC for the applicable historic and design review.

  • Mark Shambaugh, Chair — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Stacy Lake, Vice Chair — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Matt Lee — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Robert Mather — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Andrew Williamson — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Sherry Gourlay, Alternate — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.
  • Troy Gulec, Alternate — contact through Town Hall: 970-728-5700.

Source: Official directory

Mountain Village Town Council

Whole council: council@mtnvillage.org.

Source: Official directory

San Miguel County Commissioners

Whole board: bocc@sanmiguelcountyco.gov; office: 970-728-3844.

Source: Official directory

Telluride Ski & Golf

  • Chuck Horning, owner — public resort office: info@telski.com; 970-728-6900. Ask for ownership/management correspondence to be forwarded. An individual owner email is not confirmed.

Source: Official directory

Source: Ownership reporting, July 2026

Rural Homes partnership

These are development partners, not elected officials or the public land-use approval body. Individual work email addresses are not confirmed.

Source: Official directory

Mountain Village Design Review Board

Design decisions and land-use recommendations are made through the applicable review process, not by Council alone. Individual member addresses are not published; the Town explicitly forwards board correspondence through planning@mtnvillage.org.

Source: Official design review board directory

San Miguel County Planning Commission

The commission reviews applicable development proposals and recommends zoning/subdivision/PUD actions to the County Commissioners. The official directory lists the following members; direct member addresses are not confirmed. Send commission correspondence through the county planning office: planning@sanmiguelcountyco.gov, 970-728-3083.

Sources: Official commission directory, county planning contact on its public application

Why it works

Every side gets something real. Locals keep homes in town. Families get a path to ownership. Businesses get visitors who stay in rooms and eat on Main Street. The mountain gets the beds it has asked for. Taxpayers get income from the land instead of an open-ended bill.

Phasing also makes it safer. If phase one fills quickly and the numbers hold, build more. If they do not, the Town has not bet the whole site.

Fair questions

  • Is this a plan to put a hotel on public land? No. The land stays public, and most of it stays housing. A leased slice pays for the rest.
  • Why not sell the land and build all the housing down-valley? Because a town where workers commute in and visitors hold the best ground is a resort. We want both: locals in town and families with room to grow nearby.
  • Doesn’t lodging add workers who need housing? Yes. That is why any lodging must house its own workforce as a condition of approval.
  • Won’t this delay housing? A first phase can start as soon as a full build. What takes longer is the honest math, and that is worth the wait.

Fix the basics, and people will trust you with the big things.

Next: Move forward with a planAdd your name