Town, county approve 3-year START funding deal with Jackson Hole Mountain Resort

Jackson Town Council and the Teton County Commission approved a new three-year Transit Funding Agreement with Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR) to support START bus service to and from Teton Village, aimed at giving both START and the resort more predictable budgeting. The deal sets a methodology to calculate JHMR’s annual contribution based on factors including service hours on the village routes, WYDOT federal assistance, START revenues, Area 2 revenues, and ridership. (START Board Meeting Agenda Packet)

Two new constraints are central to the agreement. First, JHMR is not obligated to pay for increases in Teton Village route service levels that exceed 7% of the prior year’s service hours unless JHMR provides prior written consent. Second, the agreement includes an annual escalator: JHMR’s contribution increases by the greater of the Western CPI or the Town/START employee COLA/merit increase, capped at 7.5% year-over-year without JHMR consent. (START Board Meeting Agenda Packet)

The agreement also specifies fare-free access on Teton Village routes for certain JHMR ski passholders (if the resort elects annually by May 31) and for JHMR employees/volunteers with ID, and it sets how “Area 2” fees are handled as an offset in the contribution formula (five-year average, capped at $500,000). The term runs three years from the effective date, with two optional one-year extensions by mutual written agreement and annual termination notice available by April 30. (START Board Meeting Agenda Packet)