Copyright The Denver Post
Residents of Mountain Village, the European-style town that encompasses the Telluride ski resort, on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a 5% lift-ticket tax to help fund the construction, maintenance and operation of the iconic gondola that connects the mountain with the town of Telluride. More than 77% of the town’s 376 voters backed the measure, which is estimated to generate $2.5 million per year through the new excise tax. The town will transfer the money to the San Miguel Authority for Regional Transportation to help replace the existing gondola and maintain the new one. “The gondola is the region’s most vital shared asset and the cornerstone of our current and future success,” Mountain Village Town Manager Paul Wisor said in a statement. “In this election, the Mountain Village community reaffirmed its commitment to securing the gondola’s future, ensuring that (the ski resort), along with its visiting guests, contributes its fair share to building a new gondola.” The vote serves as a public rebuke of the resort’s owner, Chuck Horning, who initially agreed to a deal in which the ski company would contribute $1.5 million annually to the county for gondola funding. But in March, just hours before the county was set to approve the signed contract, Horning pulled out of the agreement. Forced to scramble, both Telluride and Mountain Village officials referred measures to November’s ballot, asking voters to approve taxes on visitors’ lift tickets. That money will be collected by the ski company and paid to the county, but Horning can choose to pass the costs on to the customers. The tax will not apply to local residents’ season passes. Is Telluride ready to ‘chuck Chuck?’ Why the opulent ski town turned on the resort’s longtime owner Telluride's identical measure on Tuesday failed by 20 votes, but since Mountain Village approved it, the lift tax will still take effect. Horning, in a pair of letters to community members and his employees this week, said the ski company agreed to specific terms on the proposed gondola agreement. But once they received the contract, there were added conditions that the ski company "would never have agreed to." A spokesperson for the ski resort previously told The Denver Post that the company already contributes to the gondola costs "in a meaningful way" and more than any other business. The changes, Horning wrote, represented yet another example of Mountain Village officials "negotiating in bad faith." The relationship between Horning and the towns of Telluride and Mountain Village appears to be nearing a breaking point, The Post reported last week. Local officials say they're sick of Horning pulling the rug out from under them at the last minute and reneging on deals. They lamented his my-way-or-the-highway attitude and his lack of empowerment of his executives to run the company. The Post also detailed Horning's personal exploits in the small mountain town. Multiple women have accused him of sexual harassment and assault. Others told The Post he drank hard alcohol during meetings and brought prostitutes into the office. Horning did not answer the newspaper's questions about these alleged incidents, though he had previously denied some allegations of sexual misconduct in legal filings. In the letters, Horning characterized The Post's reporting as a "hit job" and "personal attack." He did not deny any of the accusations levied in the piece. "Of course, it’s shocking for me to read these personal attacks, but it goes on every day in national politics," Horning wrote. "Maybe this is what Telluride has become, but it's deeply troubling." Telski, Horning's company that owns the resort, is a private business, he said, "and we would not presume to ask any of their owners to relinquish ownership. I personally do not get paid to oversee and support the service complicative of this ski resort."
