Basalt Regional Library proposes perpetual extension of mill levy for library funds

The Basalt Regional Library is seeking to renew, in perpetuity, the mill levy where it draws its funding. 

The library’s Board of Trustees voted on July 21 to put the question to ballot at the November 2025 election. However, because the question will appear in both Pitkin and Eagle Counties, library staff have to work with both counties to get it approved for the ballot. 

Library staff joined the Monday Pitkin County Board of County Commissioners work session to discuss the upcoming request.

“We want the library to operate forever,” said Amy Shipley, executive director of the Basalt Regional Library, at the Aug. 5 Pitkin County BOCC meeting where library staff laid out their aims with the ballot question. 

Commissioners will go through a first and second hearing on the resolution later in August. Library staff have also reached out to the Eagle County Board of County Commissioners to discuss the measure. 

Not everyone in Pitkin and Eagle County would be weighing in on the potential ballot question. According to language in the Basalt Library’s Trustee motion, the question would be put to “electors of the district residing with the library’s legal service area,” — voters in Pitkin and Eagle Counties who reside within the Basalt Library District. 

According to the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, a mill levy is a property tax that local governments can set to generate revenue. The levy is calculated as a portion of a home’s “assessed value,” which is a fraction of the home’s “actual value.”

The tax rate, referred to in “mills,” is multiplied by the assessed value to calculate the taxes owed on a property. 

In the case of the Basalt Regional Library, they are seeking to extend their mill levy, which is currently 1.08 mills, or 1.08 thousandths of one percent of the home’s assessed value.

A fictional Basalt home with an assessed value of $100,000 would pay $180 per year to the library in property taxes. 

The current mill levy, which is used to fund library operations, has not been increased since 2006 and is set to expire at the end of 2025. The perpetual extension would remove the need for another vote in 20 years. 

Commissioners mentioned during their discussion that Crown Mountain Park Recreation District also created a mill levy in perpetuity, so the timeline is not unheard of in the area. 

“We haven’t raised our mill levy for nearly 20 years,” said Shipley. “So we feel pretty confident that this is the right thing to do and that voters will agree.”