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E-Bikes in Breckenridge! Yeah! Less traffic!

With mandate for ‘more boots and bikes and less cars,’ town of Breckenridge launches e-bike program aimed at residents

75 bikes will be deployed throughout the town to encourage car-free, one-way travel between neighborhoods, businesses and points of interest

By Robert Tann

An electric bike that is part of the town of Breckenridge’s new program aimed at reducing traffic and emissions is pictured with the Tenmile Range and Breckenridge Ski Area behind it. The program allows riders to take 30-minute trips for $3 before incurring per-minute charges.
Teddy Wilkinson/Town of Breckenridge

In a bid to reduce emissions, curb congestion and expand public transit, the town of Breckenridge is preparing to launch an electric bike sharing program that will run through the summer and into fall.

Beginning on Saturday, May 20, the town will deploy 75 bikes housed in more than a dozen stations. Bike sessions will only begin and end at each station, a way to encourage short, one-way trips that may otherwise be done with a car.

The program will be particularly geared towards locals, with a bike station within a quarter-mile of 14 different workforce housing neighborhoods and developments, according to Breckenridge Sustainability and Alternate Transportation Administrator Teddy Wilkinson.

“In addition to just having hubs where people live, we want to have them where people want to go,” Wilkinson said, adding that stations will also be near the Breckenridge Recreation Center, the Summit County Library South Branch, River Park and City Market.

Bikes will cost $3 to unlock for 30 minutes. Anything over 30 minutes will cost an additional 50 cents per minute. Breckenridge residents will also be eligible for a membership that costs $15 per month or $50 for the entire e-bike season, which lasts until Oct. 31. Those respective costs are currently $10 and $40 for residents who buy before June 18.

Wilkinson said the program is not intended to replace the need for bike rentals, adding that locals and visitors will still have plenty of reasons to take advantage of the town’s many rental stores for longer day trips across the county.

“The pricing is structured so that to use the e-bike share for a half-day rental would be more than double the rate of a bike shop,” Wilkinson said.

The e-bike program, instead, will offer an affordable, car-free alternative for residents making a quick trip to the grocery store, for example.

A study by the Federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics showed that 52% of all trips in the United States in 2021 for all modes of transit were less than 3 miles. In Breckenridge, officials said the more those trips can be taken without a car, the better the town’s overall community will be.

Climate and sustainability has been a major focus for town officials who have rolled out a flurry of policies and programs in recent years. Those include incentives to shift more residents to recycling and subsidies for home electrification projects in partnership with the High Country Conservation Center.

And reducing carbon emissions from vehicles is another key prong in the fight for a cleaner environment, officials said.

“With environmental goals, there’s not one silver bullet to fix it,” said Council member Todd Rankin. “I think all of these incremental, small things hopefully add up to a bigger success story.”

Council member Jay Beckerman said the town council has set a mandate for “more boots and bikes and less cars.”

“Having our residents get out of their car just one day a week, to change their habits just one day a week, can make a huge difference,” Beckerman said.

Outside of its benefits to the environment, biking also provides residents and visitors a better way to experience Breckenridge, he said. Whether it’s exploring the riverwalk corridor or musing at public art.

“I think that you can view the assets of our town’s core better on foot or on bike than in an automobile,” Beckerman said.

While this year’s program is a pilot, town officials said they hope to continue and even expand it into the future, should it prove successful.

The town contracted with Drop Mobility, which provided the bikes for the program, to the tune of $243,000. Half of that cost was supported by a grant from the Colorado Department of Transportation, according to Wilkinson.

And with clean energy funding made available through two new federal laws, the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, more money may be coming down the pike for such programs, Wilkinson said.

Compared with the cost for a single diesel bus, which Wilkinson said can be as much as $500,000, the e-bike program is “a very economical way to deploy public transportation and provide a way for the public to get around,” he said.

Residents and visitors looking to use a bike will need to download the Breck E-Ride app, which will allow them to pay for their ride, look at a map of docking stations and show if bikes are available at any given time.

More information on the app can be found online at BreckERide.com

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Thinking of appealing your property taxes in Breckenridge?

Here is what you need to know:

We have been getting many calls from our clients in Breckenridge, and all of Summit County for that matter, so we have prepared a quick summary.

SUMMARY
There was a Zoom presentation to the Summit Association of Realtors earlier today 5/18/23, titled “2023 Reappraisal and Appeals in Summit County” by County Assessor Lisa Eurich.
In the one-hour presentation, a ton of information was given, but a few key points are:
ACTION
If you wish to appeal your valuation, do the following:
  1. Visit https://www.summitcountyco.gov/86/Assessor for background information on the process.
  2. Go to http://gis.summitcountyco.gov/Map/ and use the Search Options in the upper right corner to locate your property. Once you find your property, click on Show Detailed Data, and make a note of your Schedule Number. Check the other information on the the Detail Data sheet and make sure there are no errors. Note that “Cond” is short for “Condition of the property”.  If there are errors on this Detail Data page, that can form the basis for an appeal.
  3. Go to https://apps.summitcountyco.gov/NOVArchiveViewer/default.aspx and enter your Schedule Number. The next screen will show all of the comps that the automated mass-appraisal system used, for coming up with your valuation. In most all cases, these were computer-generated and have not been screened by a human to check for reasonability.
  4. On that page, click on the “Calculation Ladder – Adjustment Values” and see the detailed info there, and see if there is anything you feel is inaccurate or could be adjusted in your favor.
  5. Go to https://www.summitcountyco.gov/118/Real-Property-Valuation for more background info, and check out the details for your property type. For example, scroll to the section labeled “Condo Model Information” if your property is a condo, vs a single family home vs vacant land.
  6. Send an email to  and include attachments such as photos or other information such as comparable sales. Send it before June 8, 2023
DETAILS
The estimated tax on the postcard you received, is probably higher than the tax you will actually eventually pay, because the tax on the postcard does not take into account:
The county’s analysis is actually very sophisticated.
  • To determine trends and coefficients and other factors, the county used a 5-year data collection period – the maximum allowed by state law. That period is 7/1/2017 through 6/30/22.
  • The county then used the data from a more recent period two-year, 7/1/2020 to 6/30/22, to refine the calculations and place higher value on sales closer to the end of the period (6/30/22) as they are more recent and therefore more accurate.
  • Sales prior to 6/30/22 are “time-adjusted” to take into account the market trends
The Summit Assessor’s office has received over 1,000 requests for re-valuation to date, and anticipates they will receive a total of 5,000 or more, by the deadline of 6/7/2023. Each email has to be processed by hand. It will take a while.
You can file an appeal online, but it’s recommended that you send an email instead, as described above. Due to the volume of emails, the office may not get back to you right away, but they say the will eventually respond to everyone.
The primary factors that enter into a valuation are: sales date, property location, size, and age.
If there is a unique characteristic of your property, mention it in your email. For example, a recently obstructed view due to new construction, or a big difference between the condition of your property vs others that are selling in the same complex, etc.
The presenter said, when it comes to appealing your valuation, “don’t overthink it” – just provide a simple clear email stating your case. Remember, they have literally thousands of these emails to go through, by hand. If yours is really long and complex, it won’t serve you as well as something short and to the point.
When considering the condition of your property, the default assumption by the assessor’s office is “good”. Other options include “poor” which basically means uninhabitable, or “fair” which implies deferred maintenance.
If you do provide comparable sales, provide at least 3, and again the sale cannot be after 6/30/2022.
Hope this helps!
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Short Term Rentals today

Hi All,

Here is the latest information on short term rentals [as of April 10th, 2023]. As you know this issue has been very fluid, shall we say, but this is the information you need right now to figure out what your needs are when purchasing a property.

• Is it investment, short term or long term?
• Is it mostly for family?
• Do you use it in the summer and want to rent it during ski season to get those big rentals?

What are the ramifications of these permits that are needed when you go to sell your property as it will have an impact on the buyer that is considering this purchase. Also, another thing to consider when purchasing your property is the cost of the permit itself as they are not transferable when sale occurs. This sounds overwhelming but that is where we come in as your Breckenridge realtors. Roger and I (The Moens) have been here for 26 years and our job is to help you navigate these issues with ease and help you to understand what exactly you are purchasing and the long term affects as well. Breckenridge real estate is so fun to own and we can help you with the dream, however we want you to go into it educated and have confidence about your purchase.

There is an online map available, showing the locations of all of the various zones: resort, and zones 1, 2 and 3. Contact us for details. 970.376.2038