Economic indicators for town generally down for 2024

Lodging taxes in the local marking district were up by 1.5%

Estes Park saw plenty of visitors this year through August. They were just more cautious when they opened their wallets this year than they were in 2023.

Since early in the year, monthly sales reports have been showing decreased sales throughout the Town of Estes Park and with the mid-year report now on the books, it’s official. Sales tax receipts for the town are continuing a downward trend.

July tax receipts were down 4.10% from those seen in 2023. Overall, 2024 sales tax collections from January through July are 3.71% less than those received during the same time period in 2023.

Sales tax receipts in Estes Park usually peak with July receipts, although August and September collections normally are equal to, or better than, those seen in June.

Areas seeing the largest decreases in business as reflected by sales taxes remitted are in automotive (down 17.83%), construction (down 10.37%) and lodging (down 7.03%). However, Lodging taxes in the local marketing district boundaries, a larger area than that encompassed by the Town of Estes Park, were up 1.5% for the same period.

The area with the largest increase in business was reported in groceries (up 25.55% in July; 9.93% from January through July).

Sales tax receipts are not considered to be the only key indicator for how the town is faring.

Town Grant Coordinator Sharla Beesley collects and produces a monthly economic dashboard that shows selected indicators of overall economic health of the town’s economy.

Her report shows that through August, compared to 2023, nearly 8% more people were counted at the Visitor Center, and 6.59% more people used the town’s free shuttle system.

About 4% more cars traveled U.S. Highway 36 into Estes Park, and national park visitation increased close to 3.59% over 2023. Traffic on U.S. Highway 34 was down more than 17%, but the highway was closed for 10 days due to the Alexander Mountain fire and counters on that route were deactivated on July 15 for CDOT’s resurfacing project.

Through August, total number of business licenses were up 4.38% and the number of new business licenses issued increased 18.5% over 2023.

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