“I think it’s safe to say Charlie’s Place will be open next year.””

CLEAR CREEK COUNTY — Charlie’s Place will remain open next year, but commissioners from Clear Creek and Gilpin Counties agree they need a better plan for its future.

The two boards met for a joint work session in Georgetown on Tuesday, August 18, 2026. Much of the discussion centered on the animal shelter and the rising cost of keeping it running.

Clear Creek County owns and operates Charlie’s Place. Gilpin contributes 20% of the operating costs through an intergovernmental agreement. That agreement expires next year.

Gilpin’s contribution has risen 81% since 2023. The County is paying $77,808 this year. County staff said that number could climb again during the next budget cycle.

Gilpin officials said they want to continue working with Clear Creek, but the cost has to make sense.

They also have another option. Another organization has offered to take Gilpin’s animals for roughly one-quarter of what the County currently pays. Gilpin has held off on pursuing that agreement while they and Clear Creek discuss the future of Charlie’s Place.

Clear Creek officials said the shelter is expensive largely because it is small. Charlie’s Place has 22 dog kennels, but staffing shortages have left it operating at about half capacity. Staffing once exceeded six full-time equivalent (FTE) positions. It is now at 3.75.

Still, Charlie’s Place does more than hold stray animals. Staff work to reunite pets with their owners, help find new homes, and provide behavioral assistance. They can also temporarily board pets when an owner is hospitalized. A nonprofit organization, The Friends of Charlie’s Place, helps pay for food, medical care, vaccine clinics, and other services.

Those services are part of why people care so much about the shelter. Community support has picked up recently. 

Two casinos are doing round-up fundraisers, and Beau Jo’s has another underway. A recent Dostal Alley fundraiser also brought in money. Black Hawk and the Silver Dollar Metropolitan District each contributed $2,000.

Donations to Friends of Charlie’s Place help the animals, but they do not directly solve the counties’ operating-budget problem.

Clear Creek estimates it needs between $180,000 and $260,000 a year in outside revenue to bring its taxpayer burden closer to that of comparable counties.

Officials are considering several possibilities. They include grants, contributions from municipalities, paid animal holds for other jurisdictions, and having a nonprofit take over shelter operations. A nonprofit could potentially operate Charlie’s Place while leasing the county-owned facility for a nominal amount.

No long-term solution was chosen on Tuesday. Clear Creek officials did make one thing clear: they are not planning to close Charlie’s Place next year.

“I think it’s safe to say Charlie’s Place will be open next year,” commissioners were told.

Hickenlooper visits joint session

US Senator John Hickenlooper stopped by the joint session to hear from commissioners about issues facing the two mountain counties.

The group thanked Hickenlooper for his support of the bipartisan infrastructure law and pointed to the Floyd Hill project as an example of federal money at work. The conversation also turned to wildfire, water, emergency medical services, and the difficulty small mountain counties face in paying for services used by millions of visitors each year.

One Clear Creek official described the two counties as “rural exurban” communities. Clear Creek has about 9,000 residents but sees roughly 16 million drivers a year, creating demands that its small tax base must help support. EMS was offered as one example, with the County recently adding a third ambulance because of call volume.

Gilpin County Commissioner Sandy Hollingsworth thanked Hickenlooper for the improvements underway at Floyd Hill but said increased tourism and recreation also put a heavy burden on small mountain counties.

“There’s a real emphasis on promoting recreation,” Hollingsworth said. “More people come to Colorado for tourism, but we get really hit with the impacts.”

She also urged Hickenlooper to continue opposing the sale of public lands.

“They belong to the people,” Hollingsworth said. “When they’re being sold to private entities, it just works against the purpose of them.”

Hickenlooper responded by discussing PILT funding, or Payments in Lieu of Taxes. He suggested counties such as Gilpin, where a large amount of land is federally owned and cannot generate local property taxes, may need greater PILT support to help cover wildfire mitigation and other services tied to those lands.

That interpretation is consistent with the federal program. For fiscal year 2026, Gilpin County received $129,414 in PILT funding for 43,128 acres, while Clear Creek County received $406,564 for 169,600 acres, according to the Department of Interior website.

Counties consider shared veterans officer

The boards also discussed sharing a Veterans Service Officer. Both counties currently have openings. Rather than each hiring a part-time employee, officials favored exploring one full-time position serving both counties. The officer would have office hours in Gilpin as well as Clear Creek.

Staff will work on an agreement between the counties while moving ahead with the hiring process.

Human Services partnership discussed

The counties also talked about whether some Human Services positions or leadership could eventually be shared.

The timing comes as Gilpin County Human Services Director Janey Barker prepares to retire September 3. David Josselyn is expected to assume her role.

Some commissioners saw potential for more cross-training and backup between the two small counties. Others worried that restructuring now could put more pressure on employees while major state changes to Human Services are already coming.

No decision was made to combine the departments. Officials agreed there are opportunities for cooperation, but also plenty of details to work through.

The Gilpin County Board of Commissioners will next meet Tuesday, August 25, 2026.