Special Events, Park Expansions and New Employee Requests Win Big
Rick Langenberg
Bet, baby, bet, and bring on more gaming devices; and please, stay overnight for a few more days.
At the same time, let’s enjoy our festive town with such attractions as Ice Castles and a return of the Salute to American Veterans Rally, and sporting more facilities for kids; and yes, having more events.
These were some of the themes conveyed during Cripple Creek’s initial 2025 budget session, as city officials offered a glimpse of their $16 million-plus spending plans for next year.
The tone of this year’s budget message is much more optimistic regarding the state of the local gaming industry, which made big strides last year when it came to adjusted gross proceeds (casino winnings) and coin-in numbers. The latter figure equates to the volume of overall betting that took a big upward turn in the last year with an 8 percent hike.
“The city is cautiously projecting an improving financial situation in 2025 due to the 2024 increases in device fee revenue, gaming tax revenue, coin-in and table drop, AGP and market share,” stated Monet Edwards, the finance director of Cripple Creek, in her budget message. She expressed cautious optimism about the town’s fiscal situation for next year. Cripple Creek’s gaming and financial scenario is much improved with the addition of the Chamonix resort and the Ice Castles attraction, according to the 2025 budget analysis.
At the same time, Monet concedes that a few dark clouds exist on the horizon dealing with the national and regional economy, with such factors as inflation, supply chain issues and interest rates. “These factors could negatively impact people’s decisions regarding their jobs, disposable income and their ability to spend dollars on entertainment, such as gaming,” she concluded.
Plus, one lingering reality confronts the gaming town: Will Cripple Creek ever reach the number of betting options it had, prior to the COVID epidemic or rival the industry’s peak in 2008, when it sported more than 5,000 games of chance. The answer, according to most officials: Mostly likely no, so more emphasis needs to be placed on other sources of potential revenue. However, the gaming industry still is the major community fiscal player, contributing close to 60 percent of the town’s revenue due to device fees and related taxes.
On the upside, the city’s annual revenue shows an increase of 3.5 percent, with a substantial hike in gaming-related device fee revenue that incurred a $500,000-plus increase in the last year. This is largely attributed to the landing of the Chamonix resort and the city’s earlier decision to increase device fees.
That’s good news for proponents of new projects.
Preliminary Winners
The 2025 fiscal blueprint appears to signal a preliminary win for those favoring more special events, park improvements and more key employees for certain departments serving specific needs.
The city of Cripple Creek has proposed an approximate $16 million expense budget for 2025, which will most likely grow bigger. The city council, in its initial budget hearings, didn’t hesitate in loosening up the city’s purse strings in approving requests for new employees in certain areas, and better equipment.
The council was quite enthusiastic about allocating money towards community enhancements, more marketing and events, and other plans.
In fact, in its first meeting alone, it okayed a hefty amount of extra funding requests, capped mostly by the addition of new employees. Still, these approvals of extra monies fell far short of the $2 million-plus in overall requests. The lion’s share of this came in the form of more employee requests for marketing, the police department and human resources.
Park Expansions
In their kickoff budget meeting, the elected leaders made it clear they want to complete work on a new skateboard park and agreed to allocate close to $300,000 to achieve this goal. “I know the kids like the park,” said Mayor Pro Tem Bruce Brown. In addition, he hinted that it may be time for the town to develop an expanded parks and rec facility, a project idea mulled for years. “It is time,” said Brown.
Currently, the Henry Hack facility is the sole center for this agency. Plans for a new or expanded facility have been thrown out in the past, but never reached the official starting gate.
The idea of getting a skateboard park facility up and running as soon as possible appeared to move into high gear at the budget kickoff session. “I am in favor of creating more kid-friendly spaces. The kids deserve it,” said Mayor Annie Durham.
These comments became sweet music for Parks and Recreation Department Director Connie Dodrill, who announced recently she plans to retire later this spring, so wants to see certain projects move forward prior to leaving. “I want the skateboard park to open,” said Dodrill. “I am trying to make it happen. We are making progress.”
Marketing and Special Events
Marketing and events also emerged as a big buzzword in the budget kickoff session. Several council members outlined their views on this subject that frequently sparks much debate locally. Brown expressed support for doing more television advertising, while Councilwoman Melissa Trenary questioned if certain market areas west of Teller County are being explored properly.
Tracie Bennitt, the city’s marketing and special events director, cited having more events as a primary goal she wants to explore. “My goal is to expand events for next year,” said Bennitt, who has assumed the reins of this agency in 2024. The former marketing director, Jeff Mosher, is now in charge of special projects.
Bennitt wants to add another employee to her department to assist with destination marketing, with a heavy emphasis on social media.
The city plans to spend a little more than $300,000 on special events for next year, a figure that will undoubtedly increase. The city has gotten more aggressive on the special event front, since the COVID epidemic subsided.
