Three new politicians to take office this month

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BH snubs Gilpin over housing authority

County’s plans to establish a multi-jurisdictional housing

authority. As a result, it is quickly proceeding to form its

own.

During the city council meeting last week, Black Hawk’s

aldermen unanimously supported the idea of creating the

City of Black Hawk Housing Authority and approved a

petition to gather signatures from residents who back this

concept.

stated that 25 of the

city’s estimated 100 residents would need to sign the peti-

tion, allowing city leaders to “take the first step” toward

creating the new housing authority.

Because the community is relatively tight-knit, most of

the signatures had already been collected by last weekend,

Possible bump in lodging tax question

It’s possible Gilpin’s Board of Coun-

ty Commissioners may ask residents

to approve an increase in the county’s

lodging tax in November.

County voters approved the current

lodging tax rate of two percent in No-

vember 2022. The proposed increase

is expected to generate approximately

$170,000 this year and is intended for

tourism, supporting childcare pro-

grams, improving roads, and funding

the annual Gilpin County Fair in July.

During the June 10 BoCC meeting,

leaders suggested they are considering

a Nov. 4 ballot question that would

ask residents to raise the lodging tax

rate from two to six percent. This in-

crease would be paid by visitors rent-

ing rooms at hotels, motels, bed and

breakfast homes, camping sites, and

short-term stays, including Airbnb,

Vrbo, and other related online book-

ing platforms.

County Manager Ray Rears said,

“The board has discussed – but not

settled on – to press for an increase

in the lodging tax.” The estimated

$340,000 in additional revenues

would be used for childcare and

infrastructure. Lodging taxes paid by

visitors are collected by the owners of

the establishments.

The manager stated that a recent

change in state law allows municipali-

ties to raise their lodging taxes from

two to six percent, prompting discus-

sions among Gilpin County admin-

istrators about the idea. The county

commissioners are anticipated to con-

tinue their discussions on the matter

this summer. Any ballot question they

approve must be submitted by early

September to the Gilpin County Clerk

& Recorder’s office, which oversees lo-

cal elections. Once verified, the county

office will place the measure on the

November ballot, which will include

several statewide races and seats on

local school boards.

The county lodging tax wouldn’t

affect the cities of Central or Black

Hawk, each of which has its own sepa-

rate lodging taxes.

In 2022, 54.4 percent of county

voters approved the local lodging tax,

with 1,808 votes in favor and 1,511

against.

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Located in Mid Gilpin County

just days after the council

meeting. Mayor David Spell-

man stated he was confident

that the petition would have

more than the required

number of signatures early

this week. Consequently, the

council plans to hold a public

hearing on the subject in the

coming weeks.

Spellman said many people

are under the impression that

a housing authority is cre-

ated to bring new homes to a

community. While that can

be true, an authority can also

help improve homes that are

considered “unsafe, unhealthy

and substandard,” he noted.

Currently, many homes in

Black Hawk’s National His-

toric District fall into those

categories because some

owners haven’t sought city

funds to help rehabilitate and

preserve them, while others

have. “There are some homes

in various stages of deteriora-

tion, so a housing authority

can step up and make sure the

housing stock is safe, healthy

and not substandard.”

While some people in Cen-

tral City, Black Hawk, or Gil-

pin County would like to see

new housing built, there isn’t

a clear or easy path to find

developers willing to build

multi-family developments,

workforce housing, or senior

citizen apartments.

In recent years, most homes

built in either Gilpin County

or Central City have been

single-family detached struc-

tures. However, these num-

bers are small compared to

what Gov. Jared Polis and the

state’s elected leaders have

pursued since Colorado voters

approved Prop 123 funding in

November 2022.

Prop 123 was created to

help build “affordable” hous-

ing, defined as being rented or

sold for between 30 and 100

percent of a local area’s Aver-

age Median Income (AMI).

An approved ballot measure

in 2022 created approximate-

ly $300 million in affordable

housing funding through the

Department of Local Affairs

(DOLA) and the Governor’s

Office of Economic Develop-

ment and International Trade

(OEDIT). According to the

state, the money is provided

through grants and loans to

nonprofit agencies, communi-

ty land trusts, non-profit and

for-profit developers and local

governments.

On June 4, Polis announced

that a total of $67.5 mil-

lion had been preliminarily

approved for 11 recipients

to create an estimated 1,017

low- and middle-income

multi-family affordable rental

housing units across the state.

One of the recipients was

the Fieldhouse Apartments

in Idaho Springs, which will

include 120 units, serve resi-

dents who earn between 70

and 100 percent of the AMI,

and offer a preference to local

school district authorities.

On previous occasions,

Gilpin County officials have

pointed out the need to intro-

duce more affordable housing

in the county, which could

provide homes for casino

workers, law enforcement offi-

cers, county employees, school

district teachers, and others

who currently commute from

the Front Range and other

counties to work in Gilpin.

Last August, the Gilpin

commissioners committed

to increasing the number of

affordable housing units by

3 percent annually for three

years, starting Jan. 1, 2024.

By using DOLA’s Base As-

sistance Tool and Boulder

County’s Adjusted Median

Income (AMI), the county set

a goal of six new units each

year and a total of 18 new af-

fordable housing units by the

end of the three-year cycle.

The county opted for Boulder

County’s AMI of $125,400

instead of the average AMI

for Jefferson, Clear Creek

and Gilpin counties, which

was $15,000 lower than

Gilpin County’s owner me-

dian household income. This

choice could make monthly

rent or mortgage payments

more affordable for residents

if developers build any type of

development using approved

Prop 123 revenues.

However, the road to actu-

ally building affordable hous-

ing in Gilpin has been filled

with obstacles. Many areas in

unincorporated Gilpin County

don’t have municipal water

and sewage systems. Among

them are the Russell Gulch

and Rollinsville areas, where

residents rely on well water or

are forced to have potable wa-

ter delivered to their homes.

Most places in the county also

lack traditional services, such

as supermarkets, banks, phar-

macies, medical and dental

offices, and retail stores, which

could be considered unappeal-

ing by those who might think

about moving to the county.

Spellman said he’s against

the county’s quest to bring

Prop 123 “affordable hous-

ing” to Gilpin. That’s why he’s

backing his city’s plan to cre-

ate its own housing authority

to address needs within his

community.

“Several months ago, the

Black Hawk took part in a

housing needs assessment car-

ried out by Bohannan Huston,

in collaboration with Gilpin

County and the City of Cen-

tral. Each entity contributed

$7,200, while the Department

of Local Affairs (DOLA) pro-

vided over $200,000. Unfor-

tunately, this funding was not

well utilized, as the cardinal

rule was overlooked: new

development for affordable,

attainable, or workforce hous-

ing must not impact existing

residential homes. This should

have been the primary direc-

tive for the company contract-

ed by the county to conduct the

assessment. New housing must

not diminish the quality of life

in existing residential areas.

Following this directive alone

begins to restrict the options

for where new housing devel-

opment can be built.

“In addition to this glaring

mistake, the company pro-

posed outrageously expensive

and unrealistic solutions to the

lack of infrastructure across

much of the county,” the

mayor commented. “Consider-

ing this and accounting for the

steep topography in the region,

as well as ensuring adequate

road access within a reason-

able distance to essential

services and conveniences, the

available area for housing be-

comes even more limited and,

frankly, easily identified.”

“Currently, more money is

being spent with a new compa-

ny, the CORE Planning Group,

to study a multijurisdictional

housing authority. DOLA is

contributing $104,000, while

Gilpin County, along with the

towns of Nederland and Lyons,

is providing $5,000 each. On

May 28, this new company

submitted a draft budget for

what could potentially be a

newly-established multijuris-

dictional housing authority,

with wasteful overhead already

built into the proposed budget.

The City of Black Hawk will

not participate in this process

and will not consider being in-

cluded in any housing author-

ity outside its boundaries in

the future,” the mayor said.

Some other local lead-

ers also claim that building

workforce housing may not

be a solution. During a recent

joint meeting between Gilpin

County and Central City lead-

ers, newly elected alderman

Zane Plsek said some local ca-

sino workers prefer to live in

Front Range counties because

they enjoy having grocery

stores, doctors’ offices, gas

stations and other services

close to home. If a developer

builds workforce housing in

the Central City area, there is

no guarantee that casino em-

ployees will relocate there.

“I’m not against afford-

able services, but if services

aren’t there, affordable hous-

ing won’t work,” said Plsek,

who noted that nobody has

conducted a survey to deter-

mine if the casino workers are

interested.

The multi-jurisdictional

housing authority has devel-

oped a preliminary three-year

plan extending through 2028.

CORE representatives are

scheduled to provide a com-

prehensive update presenta-

tion to the Gilpin commis-

sioners during their workshop

session on July 15.

There will be a noticeable

absence from the work session,

which is open to the public

but not for participation. Rob

Gutierrez, the Community De-

velopment director, resigned

on June 5 to accept a position

elsewhere. Over the past two

years, Gutierrez had been in

charge of the county’s efforts to

seek Prop 123 opportunities for

Gilpin, including collaborating

with Central City, Nederland,

and Lyons to create a multi-ju-

risdictional housing authority.

While a search for Gutier-

riz’s replacement is underway,

it is unclear when the ap-

pointment will be made. Until

then, the county’s plans to

create a housing authority and

comply with the state’s Prop

123 funding initiatives will fall

primarily on County Manager

Ray Rears.

BH to BoCC: We’ll do our own housing authority

139 volunteers pitch in to help BH’s clean-up day

To prepare for the summer tourism season,

the City of Black Hawk rustled up 139 volun-

teers to help with its annual clean-up day on

June 12.

When one considers that more people turned

out to help—compared to the number of resi-

dents (about 100)—the turnout was impres-

sive to those involved in organizing the annual

event.

It was a wonderful turnout,” according

to Emily Richards, a city development ser-

vice coordinator who coordinated this year’s

clean-up event. “The city is grateful for all who

participated in the 2025 Cleanup Day! It is a

monumental event that takes many hands to

After the volunteers assembled for a group

photo, Mayor David Spellman welcomed and

thanked them for doing their part to create

a clean and green image that is expected to

be seen by tens of thousands of visitors this

summer. Several of the city’s aldermen also

turned out for the event, which began at JKQ BBQ

at Crook’s Palace. Before 8 a.m., tents, sign-in tables

and containers filled with safety vests, rubber gloves,

trash pick-up claws and other materials were set up

for arriving volunteers.

Many of the city’s casinos scheduled their team

members to assist with the project, including Ameri-

star, Bally’s, the Lodge and Gilpin, Horseshoe/Lady

Luck, Monarch, Sasquatch, Wild Card, Saratoga,

and Z Casino.

Several firms that provide consulting work for the

city, including Baseline Engineering, WCG Con-

struction, Pinyon Environmental, and PEH Archi-

tects, also sent employees from Golden, Boulder,

and other communities.

Among the local business owners who partici-

pated were Brian Watt of the Rick Thomas Dis-

tillery and Ted and Lori Garcia of the Ted Garcia

art Gallery. Residents who serve on the city’s

Historic Preservation Commission and family

members of elected city officials also turned out.

Various city leaders and employees, with sig-

nificant involvement from the Black Hawk Fire

Department, worked alongside other volunteers

to ensure the city was clear of litter. CDOT and

the Black Hawk Police Department provided

patrols to alert motorists about the presence of

workers collecting roadside trash. By the end

of the morning, their collected trash bags filled

several public works trucks.

Among the guests who volunteered were Terry

Elpert and Thomas Tabbert, who frequently par-

ticipate in CDOT’s Adopt-a-Highway program.

They regularly clean up a section of Highway

119, stretching from the south end of the city to

the Coyote West Motel area, two miles south of

Black Hawk.

The volunteers cleaned along Highway 119,

starting near the Hidden Treasure Trailhead and

stretching south to the Coyote Motel area, through

the casino district, along residential streets, and

west on Gregory Street to the Red Dolly Casino.

Participants received free Black Hawk Clean-Up

Day T-shirts and concluded the event with a barbe-

cue buffet lunch at JKQ.

Nearly 140 volunteers showed up to take part in Black Hawk’s

2025 clean-up day across the city June 12.

Drone photo by Don Ireland

Three new politicians to take office this month

Patrick Henry Sweeney

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