Basalt Sales Tax Revenue Unencumbered by Midland Construction
The Midland Avenue Streetscape Project is nearing completion, allowing for businesses and the town of Basalt to evaluate its effects.
The project, which began in spring 2023, was a massive overhaul of Midland Avenue including new utilities, new pavement and sidewalks, as well as lighting and parking changes.
Construction caused a fair amount of controversy, with a petition at one point almost causing alteration of the core plan or putting the issue to ballot. The petition ultimately fell 10 signatures short of the 360 signatures required to move forward.
According to Zoe Calahan, the owner of home goods store Maison, the construction on Midland Avenue had a significant negative impact on business.
“There were significantly less people, and I think most of that had to do with parking,” she said. “I think people started to avoid Old Town (Basalt) because of that.”
However, sales tax remitted from the state of Colorado to the town of Basalt from the construction period show no significant ill-effects on revenue along Midland Avenue. Basalt received $8,000 more from 2022 to 2023 as compared to the previous year, and $10,000 more from 2023 to 2024. That works out to about a 1% and 2% gains year-over-year, respectively, according to figures provided by the town of Basalt.
“We looked at everybody — the drug stores, all of the businesses represented on Midland — and I don’t think there was anything meaningfully different in terms of dollars collected,” said Doug Pattison, Basalt finance director.
For context, nearby Willits received 2% more from 2022 to 2023 as compared to the previous year and was actually down on sales tax the following year.
The Midland Avenue project was projected to be completed by the end of 2024. Various factors pushed that target back to March of 2025.
“The underlying goal is to not only revitalize our downtown but to create energy in the town. So with that, ideally, comes more folks,” Basalt Town Manager Ryan Mahoney said during a discussion of parking changes associated with the Midland construction.
With completion looming and the weather warming, residents and visitors are expected to begin filling out the downtown area. It remains unclear whether sales tax figures will climb due to increased energy in the downtown area.
By: Colin SuszynskiI The Aspen Times I March 28, 2025