Aspen Fire Protection District pushes two ballot initiatives to improve funding

The Aspen Fire Protection District is pushing two funding proposals for the Nov. 25 ballot as fire season and risk continues to increase: a mill levy extension of 0.24 mills and a new sales tax of 0.5%.

Because the mill levy extension proposal maintains the current tax rate, homeowners would not have to pay additional property taxes to help preserve emergency response capabilities. The 0.5% increase would not apply to groceries, prescription medication, and other goods exempt from state sales tax. 

“We know that wildfires are increasing in frequency and severity,” Director of Community Wildfire Resilience Ali Hammond said in an Aspen Chamber Resort Association meeting Tuesday about the need for more funding. “We’re getting in a year what we used to get in a decade.” 

Earlier this year, the District began a public engagement process involving a plan development in April, community outreach in May and June, and public opinion research in June and July. The results showed 83% of respondents were in support of the mill levy proposal and 76% were in support of the sales tax proposal. 

The results also showed 86% of respondents trust the District to use proceeds from the levy and tax “responsibly and effectively.”

The two proposals come as the District faces an increase in demand for service.

According to Deputy Fire Chief Jake Andersen, the District has seen a 52% increase in total calls between 2013 and 2023 and averaged two structure fire calls a month in 2024. Critical challenges going forward in addition to higher call volumes include increased wildfire mitigation, increasingly unpredictable revenues, “rapidly rising costs of apparatus, equipment, and operations,” staffing service gaps, aging infrastructure, and protecting firefighter safety.

Andersen confirmed the District lost $400,000-plus in revenue this year, and he anticipates losing more going forward.

“Really, it’s going to take all of us to make a meaningful impact,” Andersen said. “This isn’t a problem we can’t solve.”

CEO and Fire Chief Rick Balentine also noted at the meeting that part of the money raised through the levy and tax will go toward upgrading and adding technology. 

“It keeps us on the cutting edge of response time,” Balentine said.

Anderson confirmed to ACRA Executive Committee Vice Chair Jeff Bays that the District spent time seeking ways to save money on their end before presenting the ballot proposals to the chamber.

“The answer to that is absolutely,” Andersen emphasized. “As we project into the future with the massive increases that have occurred — they’re just nothing that we had envisioned or kept up with.”

“I think that really substantiates and justifies the ask,” Bay replied.

Aspen Mayor Rachel Richards also acknowledged that the long-term cost for the District is going to be substantial to protect and recover from wildfires, but expressed concern over the levy and tax.  

“We have much more public awareness that we live in a dangerous area,” Richards said. “I know the needs (for funding) are there … but people are being a lot more hesitant with their spending.”

But the District points out that spending money now could mean not spending as much later — fixing overdue station maintenance will extend the life of critical building systems to save taxpayers money over time, and retaining staff and high-quality, functioning apparatus could literally save lives.

The ACRA presentation additionally highlighted that “a local sales tax would ensure that tourists and visitors, who increase Aspen’s population to nearly 30,000 daily during peak seasons, contribute to the cost of emergency services.”

Andersen also pointed out that overall improvements to the District could bolster its Insurance Service Office rating, which Andersen suggested could potentially reduce the cost of insurance premiums for homeowners and commercial businesses.

“We have a lot of things going for us and a lot of work left to do,” Hammond said.