Basalt gives tobacco tax grants to area nonprofits
Mountain Family Health to receive one-time grant of $50,000
File photo
Basalt Town Council will dole out $62,000 in grants from the council’s discretionary budget and the town’s tobacco tax to various nonprofits throughout the Roaring Fork Valley.
The Basalt Town Council grant sub-committee, including Mayor David Knight and Council members Dieter Schindler and Angela Anderson Ward, reviewed grant applications for the council’s annual discretionary grants and presented them during Tuesday’s council meeting.
This year, there were 42 applicants with $142,794 in total requests. Appropriations for the grants include $35,000 from the town’s discretionary budget and $27,000 from tobacco tax revenue.
The sub-committee recommended funding for 32 of 42 applicants. They also reserved $1,500 for other small requests that come throughout 2025.
“We went through all of those, and I think everybody was feeling pretty good about the way that it was divvied up to these nonprofits,” said Basalt Town Manager Ryan Mahoney.
Alpine Legal Services, Aspen Dance Connection, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Aspen Science Center, Aspen Valley Ski & Snowboard Club, English in Action, High Country Sinfonia Inc., Home Care & Hospice of the Valley, Junior Achievement of the Roaring Fork Valley, Mount Sopris Nordic Council, Raising a Reader, and more will receive money from the council grant.
A Way Out Inc., Aspen Youth Center, Basalt High School Climbing Club, Community Health Services, Inc., Family Resource Center of the Roaring Fork Schools, Food Bank of the Rockies, Great Expectations, Harvest for Hunger, HeadQuarters formerly Aspen Strong, High Rockies Harm Reduction, Lift-Up, River Bridge Regional Center, and more will receive money from the tobacco tax grant.
For 2023, the council had 37 applications in the amount of $109,551. For 2024, the council had 40 applications in the amount of $153,082.
In addition to these grants, staff and the sub-committee recommended a one-time $50,000 grant to Mountain Family Health. The town’s tobacco tax account has a current surplus from the high school bleacher project not being completed.
“They are in a particularly tough spot based on finances, and some of that has to do with the sunsetting of some rules around Medicaid that happened around COVID,” Mahoney said. “So, it fits pretty squarely in our tobacco tax, and if you remember, we had a little extra in there, so we felt that it was appropriate to make that recommendation to council.”
A Mountain Family Health representative approached town staff about the grant program. It recently closed two clinics in Basalt schools; however, it remains open at its Emma Road location.
Given that the valley has a high number of uninsured patients due to the cost of living and other factors, the business model is particularly challenging, Mahoney said. Mountain Family Health currently serves up to 20,000 patients per year with primary care, dental, and mental health services.
Town staff said this would be a one-time grant and looked to a new law (Cover All Coloradans), which may help with funding, tightening billing and collections, fundraising, and improving assistance with Medicaid enrollment in the future.
Regan Mertz can be reached at 970-429-9153 or rmertz@aspentimes.com.
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