The Aspen-Pitkin County Airport runway is shown on Thursday following two days of snowstorms. The county is budgeting about $75 million for some preliminary work on airport redevelopment in 2026, with hundreds of millions in runway and terminal construction costs still to come. Jason Charme/Aspen Daily News

With nearly $312 million in total expenditures next year, Pitkin County is poised to adopt its largest budget in history — much larger, even, than the numbers for 2025.

Total spending is up almost $80 million in 2026, a 34% increase year over year.

Capital projects have a lot to do with it, budget director Connie Baker told the Board of County Commissioners on Wednesday during the first reading of a resolution to adopt the budget.

Those projects account for more than $128 milli

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