Aspen School District asks Snowmass for additional financial support in property tax increase

Amidst its ongoing financial crises, Aspen School District asked Snowmass for increased financial support.

The district asked in a Monday council meeting that Snowmass double the Snowmass Village Public Education Fund, a property tax on Snowmass residents that yields $500,000 for the school district. The district is asking council members to approve a ballot initiative that would double the tax to $1 million so it can continue to afford staff salary raises.

The fund increase would double Snowmass homeowners property tax payments to the fund from $37 to $73 per year for residents who own a home with an actual value of $1 million. 

 “We are not the highest paid teachers in Colorado, yet we have the highest cost of living in Colorado,” Aspen School District Superintendent Tharyn Mulberry said of the importance of salary raises.

The 2024/25 starting teacher salary for Aspen School District teachers who hold only a bachelor’s degree is $52,750, while the median value of a home in Pitkin County was $8.3 million, according to Pitkin County’s Planning and Zoning Commission. The starting teacher salary aligns with a cost of living as far away from Aspen as Newcastle, Mulberry said.  

Additionally, the Snowmass Village Public Education Fund increase would more closely align Snowmass’ contributions with the percent makeup of Snowmass students in ASD’s student body. Local funding contributions — excluding the per-pupil amount the district can levy from property owners, as determined by the state — account for $5.5 million of the district’s $33 million budget. The $5.5 million is split between the Snowmass Village Public Education Fund, the Aspen Public Education Fund, a sales tax, and the Aspen Education Foundation, a nonprofit fundraising organization. 

Snowmass’ current $500,000 contribution accounts for 9.1% of the $5.5 million, while the town sees 318 students attend Aspen schools, constituting 20.4% of the district’s total enrollment, according to the district.

“It’d be more representative,” Mulberry said of an increased contribution.

Mulberry added that he is very grateful for the ongoing financial contributions Snowmass has already made to the district. Council will decide if to approve the ballot question by a Sept. 2 deadline. It made no decision in the Monday council meeting.

The district asks for the additional contribution from Snowmass after a series of state decisions left them with less available funds to put toward their $33 million budget. Most recently, the state enacted its New Public School Finance Formula, which redistributes funding from wealthier school districts to those with less funds, reallocating money it had provided to Aspen School District to account for its abnormally high cost of living.

Though the Aspen School District is currently being “held harmless,” or not directly losing funding in the next six years, the district anticipates the new formula will cause funding to decrease in Fiscal Year 2031. ASD is one of six districts in the state to lose funding, according to Aspen School District Controller Max Marolt.

The district is currently operating with a 7.4% fund balance, meaning its financial reserves could only cover 7.4% of its total yearly expenditures, should an event like the COVID-19 pandemic put the district in an emergency situation, explained Marolt.

And with a rising local cost of living, the district must continue to provide housing for its employees. It currently supplies 98 units, but sees an employee demand of 136 units. Mulberry said a stock of 160 units would take care of the district’s long-term housing goals. Providing enough housing is particularly difficult for the district because it must replace retiring staff who bought housing at market rate in previous decades with new hires who can’t afford current market rate.

To account for its financial straits, the Aspen School District will pursue three other ballot measures this November, in addition to the Snowmass Village Public Education Fund increase.

It hopes to double the Aspen Public Education Fund, which is a 0.3% sales tax in the city that provides between $3 million and $3.5 million to the district per year. The funding would be used for recruiting, training, and retaining employees, according to the district. The district must get the proposal approved by Aspen city council before it can go to the ballot.  

Aspen School District also hopes to ask voters in the November election about a bond between $80 million and $120 million to put toward employee housing and maintenance. A $100 million bond would cost district residents who have a home with an actual value of $1 million an increase of $65 in property taxes per year.

Lastly, they will pursue a Mill Levy Override Increase ballot question to increase the amount they are allowed to levy per pupil from district property owners. The district hopes to surpass the cap by 47%, which it estimates would increase property taxes by $68 for district residents who own a home worth $1 million in actual value. The district currently levies 25% past the $15,225 cap set by the state for fiscal year 2026.

Should all the proposed measures go to the ballot and get passed by voters, Snowmass residents who own homes worth $1 million in actual value would pay $169 more per year in property taxes.

Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.