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Colorado - Fri. 03/17/23 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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MARCH PROJECTION IS CRITICAL TO STATE’S BUDGET DEVELOPMENT
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Every annual legislative session, the Joint Budget Committee of the Colorado legislature formulates the budget for the upcoming year. A critical element for the JBC in its budget development is the March revenue forecasts presented to the committee by the economists of the Legislative Council and the governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting (OSPB). Overall, the forecasts agree on unemployment, job growth and inflation, the key factors. Inflation is projected to decline and the revenue projections were slightly higher than those in December. However, there remains some concern over a possible recession. The OSPB had stronger corporate profits, which translate to higher corporate income tax revenue. The Legislative Council had concerns over income tax revenue because of the timing issues. Taxpayers do not file until April and dollars do not arrive until June. Last year, the March forecast was off by $1.56 billion that was received in June.
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HOTTEST HOME SALE SPOTS IN THE U.S., MIDWEST AND SOUTH
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For most places in the country, real estate markets are in flux. Inventories have increased and, in general, prices have dropped, but sales are still flat. The places that are seeing the greatest increases in sales are smaller markets where affordability dominates. According to Realtor.com, here are the hottest real estate markets: Davenport, Iowa; Montgomery, Alabama; Wichita, Kansas; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Youngstown, Ohio; Minneapolis, Minnesota; McAllen, Texas; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Knoxville, Tennessee.
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WAR IN UKRAINE FORCES U.S. AIRLINES TO CHANGE ROUTES
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For many years, U.S. airlines had access to Russian airspace through a series of agreements with Moscow. In exchange for that access, U.S. carriers, and other foreign airlines, paid fees to the Russian government for air traffic control support that amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars per year. But after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year prompted government officials in the U.S., Britain, Canada and Europe to ban Russian aircraft from flying over their airspace, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia immediately prohibited the U.S. and other supporters of Ukraine, including Canada and much of Europe, from flying through his skies.
The result is U.S. carriers have had to alter routes to fly around Russia, resulting in longer flights, adding stops for refueling and other delays. Foreign carriers, like Air India, Emirates and Eastern China Airlines, who can still fly over Russian airspace are winning over passengers and U.S. carriers are lobbying on Capitol Hill and at the White House to ban those carriers from “departing, landing or transiting” through U.S. airports.
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SEAS OF TREES: YOUTH-LED PROGRAM TO PLANT TREES
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In 2020, Ayla Kanow, then a student at Telluride High School, founded Seas of Trees, a nonprofit organization dedicated to planting trees around the world to address the climate crisis. From now until April 29, there is an online auction to support Seas for Trees. The auction features contributions from Telluride businesses, including a three-night stay in a Telluride nightly rental, painting sessions, yoga classes, dog treats and, of course, aspen trees. There is even a chance to bid on hosting a live radio show on KOTO Community Radio. You can check out the auction at: tinyurl.com/SeasOfTrees2023.
To date, Seas of Trees has planted 6,500 trees, with plans to plant 2,000 trees at a demonstration forest near the Telluride airport; 1,000 fruit trees at the Apple Core Project in Nucla; 1,000 mango trees in Kampot region with fishing village Trapang Sangke in Cambodia; 1,000 fruit trees at a school in Ngeruka of Bugesera, Rwanda; 500 more trees at San Juan de La Laguna, Guatemala, and 500 in Kathmandu, Nepal.
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STEAMBOAT’S STR TAX RAKES IN $1.3 MILLION IN ITS FIRST MONTH
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Voters in Steamboat Springs approved a ballot initiative last November to institute a tax on short-term rentals. The Steamboat Springs City Council agreed that reservations for STRs that were already booked by Dec. 31, 2022 would be exempt from the tax. Nonetheless, the city’s Budget and Tax Manager, Sue Davies, reported that the tax generated $1.3 million in revenue in January, the first month it was in effect. Proceeds from the tax will go to affordable and attainable housing projects. Sales taxes, in general, set a new record in January, with almost $4.5 million collected. That is a 13.7 percent increase over January 2022. Sales in January totaled $113.5 million.
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BEST AIRPORTS IN THE WORLD, 2023
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Aviation rankings organization Skytrax released its best airports of 2023, with Singapore Changi Airport topping the list for the 12th time. The best airports were largely concentrated in Asia, Europe and the Middle East, with Seattle-Tacoma International and Vancouver International Airports being the only two North American airfields on the list. Skytrax top airports 2023:
- Singapore Changi Airport (SIN)
- Hamad International Airport (DOH)
- Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) (HND)
- Incheon International Airport (ICN)
- Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG)
- Istanbul Airport (IST)
- Munich Airport (MUC)
- Zurich Airport (ZRH)
- Narita International Airport (NRT)
- Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD)
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UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER BENEFIT: 2023 FLY FISHING FILM TOUR
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Celebrate all things fly fishing on Saturday, March 18, with an array of short films from destinations around the world, all while raising awareness about the Uncompahgre River watershed. RIGS Fly Shop and Telluride Angler are bringing the 2023 Fly Fishing Film Tour to the Ouray County 4H Event Center in Ridgway! Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the show starts at 6:30 p.m. For tickets or for more information, visit the link below.
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MARKET UPDATE - 03/16/2023 Close
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(Courtesy of Alpine Bank Wealth Management*)
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Canadian dollar (per U.S. dollar)
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Mexican peso (per U.S. dollar)
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30-year fixed mortgage rate (Freddie Mac 03/16/2023)
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*Not FDIC insured. May lose value. Not guaranteed by the bank.
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Alpine Bank is an independent, employee-owned organization with headquarters in Glenwood Springs and banking offices across Colorado's Western Slope, mountains and Front Range. Alpine Bank serves customers with retail, business, wealth management*, mortgage and electronic banking services. Learn more at alpinebank.com.
*Alpine Bank Wealth Management services are not FDIC insured, may lose value and are not guaranteed by the bank.
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