In February, seniors took a trip from their homes at Cliffview Assisted Living in Kremmling to Winter Park Resort to watch the National Sports Center for the Disabled’s Wells Fargo Ski Cup.

This was one of several outings that Cliffview residents can participate in each month. About 24 people live in this facility, including seniors and adults who need a certain level of care, where staff provide meals, cleaning, medication disbursement, activities and more.

Also in February, Grand County government launched a countywide poll to help plan for the center’s financial future. Community members answered the poll, which was open for two months. At its April 8 meeting, the board of county commissioners reviewed the poll results and discussed next steps for Cliffview’s financing.

Why did the county conduct the poll?

The poll was intended to gather information on the community’s feelings about the funding of Cliffview and whether that funding structure should change in the face of increased operational costs.

According to the county, Cliffview faces annual shortfalls. The county has budgeted $813,167 to subsidize the difference in 2025. This equals about $33,000 per resident.  

Grand County commissioner Merrit Linke questioned if the general fund was “the most sustainable way” to fund shortfalls, which was one of the reasons the poll was created.

Poll results

Although Commissioners agreed they are committed to continued funding, they haven’t yet decided how to fund the growing costs.

According to Linke, the six-question poll clearly showed the community wants county government to continue funding the facility, since 70.3% of respondents agreed with this statement.

It’s less clear if community members would support an increase to their taxes to provide funding. 49.7% stated they’d support an increase, 20.5% indicated they don’t want increased taxes and 29.8% need more information before making a decision.

Where will the funding come from?

In addition to the county government’s subsidies, Cliffview is funded by residents’ room charges. A little over half of residents pay through Medicaid. The rest pay privately.

The county has shared that Medicaid reimbursement doesn’t cover the facility’s costs. At the same time, there are several options under consideration in Congress to reduce federal Medicaid spending, with a recently passed House budget resolution targeting cuts to Medicaid by up to $880 billion or more over a decade.

Additionally, Cliffview is preparing for several costly repairs this year. While a tax increase to generate funding is a possibility, the county is leaning toward other alternatives.

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Commissioner Ed Raegner feels that community members are informed about Cliffview’s financial situation and may be willing to assist.

“I think we’ve done a good job getting the word out,” he said. “Now it’s, ‘hey, how can you help?’ is the next message we get out. Then, ‘how do we propose to fund this?’ is the next question.”

“I think there will be definitely a significant component that is county-funded, but I would also like to see substantial community support as well to this whole system,” Commissioner Randy George said.

George suggested partnering with the Grand Foundation to manage and disperse donations to Cliffview.

“Members of the community that are very strongly in favor of this could put their money where their mouth is and assist with costs of running that facility,” he said.

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