The Aspen City Council has a long history of establishing goals to direct priorities for the City. These goals guide the actions of the City Council and the City Administration in budgeting and programming initiatives. 

The following are the top six critical goals adopted by City Council on June 20, 2023 (Resolution #90, Series of 2023): 

Mobility

Improve and expand our efficient, multi-modal, and integrated transportation system to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and air pollution. This will be accomplished through:

1. Exploring potential traffic congestion improvements from Brush Creek to Aspen with the Elected Officials Transportation Committee and the Colorado Department of Transportation including,
   • Completing a comprehensive traffic study
2. Exploring regional zero fares for bus trips that originate or end in Aspen;
3. Developing community consensus for critical infrastructure improvements for entering and exiting the city including physical modifications;
4. Increasing electrification of city and regional transit fleet;
5. Researching funding options for affordable housing to support transit expansion and sustainable service delivery; and
6. Completing the Short-Range Transportation Plan, including 
   • Reviewing the Integrated Mobility System in collaboration with the Aspen Institute which could include ride-sharing and congestion toll implementation.
   • Exploring expansion of Aspen city bus routes, and
   • Researching possible first- and last-mile improvements.

Affordable Housing

In order to deliver an affordable housing system that is high quality, sustainable, and results in a lived-in community, Council will continue to evaluate, identify opportunities, plan, partner, facilitate, and leverage existing and new resources to invest in the development and maintenance of affordable housing. 

This will be accomplished through: 

1. Implementing the Affordable Housing Strategic Plan; 
2. Completing Council-directed affordable housing development projects; 
3. Continuing to seek additional affordable housing, and development-neutral opportunities, including optimizing existing housing stock; 
4. Prioritizing and financing continued development and maintenance of affordable housing to better serve the community and the workforce; 
5. Supporting continuous improvement with the APCHA program, including ensuring adequate resources; and
6. Assisting homeowners’ associations' evaluation of their capital maintenance planning and capital reserves. 

Community Building and Health 

Strengthen the quality of life and well-being of residents and promote commercial vitality of locally focused businesses. 

This will be accomplished through:

1. Exploring public-private and non-profit approaches to promote economic vitality; 
2. Developing policies and regulations to ensure the timely completion of development projects and limit the impact of commercial vacancies on vitality, character, and revenue;
3. Designing and promoting opportunities for creating human connections among locals including the Armory renovation; 
4. Partnering with local health and human service nonprofit organizations through the city grants program; and
5. Adding physical capacity to increase available childcare spaces through projects such as the Burlingame Child Center.
6. Developing policies and/or regulations that incentivize and promote desirable uses in our community’s commercial spaces.

Customer-focused Government

Maintaining and enhancing relationships with residents, businesses and visitors is critical to provide services essential to our community. The city of Aspen will continuously improve customer service, services, and processes with our customers in mind. This will be accomplished through:

1. Assessing customer service standards for the organization; 
2. Continuing to optimize development review processes; 
3. Amending the Land Use Code to simplify processes and improve coordination between agencies; 
4. Ensuring meaningful access to services and information for all members of the community through a focus on accessible and multi-lingual communications; and
5. Developing policies and/or regulations to ensure the review of Land Use and Permitting applications is administered in reasonable, fair, and appropriate periods of time.

Protect our Environment

Take meaningful action and provide leadership in protecting the natural environment, reducing Aspen’s greenhouse gas emissions by the amount that is scientifically proven to limit global temperature change, and supporting community resilience to climate change and natural disasters. This is accomplished through:

1. Maximizing efficiency and minimizing carbon emissions in all of Aspen’s emissions inventory sectors: Energy Supply, Buildings, Vehicles and Transportation, and Waste; 
2. Finalizing Building Performance Standards and adopting a funding plan to support continued implementation of the Building IQ program; 
3. Developing a financial plan to quantify and anticipate future costs of adopted climate action policies; 
4. Investing in redundancy and climate change resilience for utility systems to ensure dependable and reliable service delivery; and
5. Expanding our commitment to wildlife conservation, wildfire mitigation, open space stewardship, river health, and preservation of the urban forest.

Prioritize Infrastructure and Maintenance for Aging Facilities 

To continue to provide efficient and reliable water, stormwater, and electrical services; safe roads and bridges; and ADA-accessible pedestrian improvements for the community, the city commits to prioritizing and advancing infrastructure projects. This will be accomplished by: 

1. Prioritizing funding for projects in the 5-year capital improvement plan; 
2. Exploring any necessary debt issuance for goal completion;
3. Implementing recommendations from rate studies; and
4. Establishing the allocation for the short-term rental tax revenues.