Basalt will let voters decide sales tax increase
Grace West Follow
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Basalt Town Council unanimously approved an ordinance on second reading to put an option to increase sales tax by 0.5% on the ballot for the election in November.
The sales tax increase is an initiative to help fund Basalt’s proposed public works and police facility. If approved by voters, the measure will change Basalt’s total sales tax from 8.45% to 8.95%, according to previous reporting by The Aspen Times.
“I think this is going to be a hard tax to pass,” former Town Council Member Ryan Slack told council during public comment.
According to Basalt’s Town Manager Gloria Kaasch-Buerger, the facility upgrade project is estimated to cost $25 million at this point, with $7 million coming from Basalt’s General Fund and the town financing $18 million through additional tax dollars.
“Police and public works lead the way in terms of what it takes to operate this community, and they’re doing it, essentially, on the back of a napkin,” Council Member Rick Stevens said of the necessity of the project.
Sales tax is currently 62.6% of Basalt’s revenue, while 10 years ago it was approximately 58.2%.
“I think that what we’re seeing is maybe less dependency on sales tax and more dependency on smart financing and finding of projects,” Stevens added. “So far, over the last seven or eight years, the town’s demonstrated they’re fiscally responsible and they’re accountable to the money we spend, and I think that’s a solid platform to launch off of to get this built.”
He added that this issue is not something he wants to defer, and if this opportunity doesn’t pass, he thinks it’ll be a long time before a facility can be built.
Basalt Town Attorney Jeff Conklin noted that under the Fair Campaign Practices Act, once the council authorizes putting the issue on the ballot, the town can’t spend any more money in advocacy of the ballot issue.
“One thing the council can do is adopt a resolution to encourage people to vote for or against the issue,” Conklin said. “Counselors can campaign on their own time; the town just can’t spend any money in furtherance of any kind of campaign effort.”
Voters will be able to vote on the ballot issue on Nov. 3.
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