Community members gathered at the Moffat County Fairgrounds Pavilion to hear from local leaders for the annual State of the Community event.

Hosted by the Chamber of Commerce, the event featured Craig mayor Ryan Hess, who gave an update on the city’s financials and priorities. Hess said that the city council has worked diligently to be responsible spenders of the city’s taxes.

“The city is really rolling more money back into our beginning balances this year than what we started. We’re doing exactly what we’ve been asked to do, and that’s to watch our expenditures and to make sure we’re spending money effectively,” Hess said.

Hess added that over $5 million in grant funding, credited to hard work on the city staff’s part, is helping offset costs for several major projects in the city. These projects include the new sidewalks on Yampa Avenue and the river corridor project.

In addition to projects, Hess spoke about one of the city’s most pressing issues facing the community: housing. He said that, currently, the city is behind when it comes to available housing in the city.

“This is probably the biggest issue that’s facing Craig and Moffat County,” he said. ”You can ask anybody who has openings in their employment right now and realize that you can’t hire somebody because they can’t find housing.”

In 2022, the city will look at various actions as to how to ease that burden, including providing incentives for potential development in the city.

“The people that are already living here are the customers that we’re serving, and those are the people we owe our gratitude to,” he said. “You don’t owe it to people who may show up for the big things.”

Hess also touched on city/county collaboration, and how the two entities can partner in the future to share resources.