Read the full study here. Every two years, the Colorado Legislative Council commissions a cost of living study for each of the 178 school districts in Colorado. This index is one of the key components in the determination of school districts’ per pupil funding formula mandated by the Public School Finance Act of 1994. The 2017 study, conducted by Pacey Economics, Inc.,  is based on the probable annual expenditures for a “typical” household defined by the Colorado Legislative Council to consist of a three-person household with a household income in 2017 of $53,115. The $53,115 income is based on the average salary of a Colorado teacher with a Bachelor’s degree and 10 or more years of experience.  The market basket of goods and services used in the study included things like housing, transportation, goods, services, and taxes across Colorado’s school districts. Once costs for each school district were calculated for 2017, the study then determined the relative cost (ranking) across school districts.

There are eight school districts among NWCCOG communities: one each in Eagle, Jackson, Pitkin, and Summit Counties; two in Grand County, one in Glenwood Springs, and one in Steamboat Springs. Six of the eight school districts in our member communities ranked in the top 10 for highest cost of living out of 178 school districts total in Colorado. The following shows where NWCCOG member communities ranked:

#1 – Aspen-1 (Pitkin County)

#2 – Summit RE-1 (Summit County)

#3 – Roaring Fork RE 1 (City of Glenwood Springs, portion of Pitkin County)

#4 – Steamboat Springs RE-2 (City of Steamboat Springs)

#5 – Eagle County RE 50 (Eagle County)

#8 – East Grand 2 (Winter Park area of Grand County)

#22 – West Grand 1JT (Kremmling area of Grand County)

#71 – North Park R-1 (Jackson County)

• Business owners and managers as a whole predict a negative change in the economy in general for the upcoming year. This was also true for the vitality of one’s own business, but the magnitude of the negative trend was smaller.
• After 5 years of declines, predictions about the ability to hire and retain employees in the upcoming year held relatively steady in the current survey year.
• Frustration with housing continues to grow and moved in a negative direction from 2017- 18. Negative opinions about housing are higher than ever found in the history of conducting the survey. More than 3 out 4 businesses feel that the housing situation negatively impacts their ability to hire and retain employees and this issue was mentioned frequently when asked about barriers to growing their business in the community.
• Over half of the businesses feel that their employees have a negative opinion of the availability of affordable child care, an issue that was introduced to the survey for the first time in 2016-17. About 1 out of 4 businesses feel that lack of child care negatively impacts their ability to hire and retain employees.
• Over half of the businesses feel that their employees have a negative opinion of the availability of affordable health care, an issue that was introduced to the survey for the first time this year. Over 1 out of 3 businesses feel that lack of affordable health care negatively impacts their ability to hire and retain employees. However, a number of the businesses provide comprehensive coverage and 31% of respondents say their employees have a positive experience on this issue.
• Almost 2 out of 3 businesses surveyed indicate that they expect to expand in the next three years and about 1 out of 4 say they are considering expanding or diversifying into a different service sector. Businesses that report plans to expand or diversify into a different service industry remains at a 5-year high point.

October 24 – 26, 2018 at the Ridgeline Hotel in Estes Park, CO