The city of Aspen will ask voters three tax-related questions and the town of Snowmass Village will ask voters to approve spending for its largest workforce rental housing development in 25 years on the November ballot.
Aspen will not ask voters to approve any new taxes. Voters will choose to extend two existing taxes and impose an existing tax at a lower rate.
The first two ballot questions, 2A and 2B, ask voters to extend the 1% housing real estate transfer tax and the 0.45% sales tax that benefit affordable housing and day care, respectively. Both taxes were approved through 2040, and voters will be asked to extend them through 2060.
Extending the housing real estate transfer tax and the affordable housing and day care sales tax could help the city finance the Lumberyard affordable housing development, city Finance Director Pete Strecker told the Aspen City Council in a June meeting when the council approved the ballot questions.
The first phase of the Lumberyard — installing utilities infrastructure for the nearly 300-unit housing project — is set to begin in early 2025. The city estimates initial occupancy at the Lumberyard will begin in 2028 or 2029.
The city’s current fund balance is healthy, according to a staff memo sent to city council about the ballot questions, and it may be possible to fund the first phase of the development using city reserves, “provided no other projects or opportunities present themselves to compete for these resources.”
If Aspen voters approve debt services for the Lumberyard construction in the future, the payback period for borrowing would likely occur over 30 years. Extending the RETT and the affordable housing and day care sales tax could ensure the city has funds to pay off those potential debt services.
A third tax question on the November ballot, 2C, asks voters to approve a lower use tax on motor vehicles and shift the funding for that tax.
Aspen currently imposes a 2.4% sales tax on motor vehicle purchases, the funds from which are allocated to several departments, including transportation infrastructure, parks and open space, and the Aspen School District.
The ballot question asks voters to instead impose a 2.1% use tax on motor vehicle purchases that would be dedicated solely to transportation infrastructure.
Town of Snowmass Village
Snowmass voters will be asked to approve of the town spending up to $86 million on the Draw site affordable housing project.
The proposed project is a 79-unit rental workforce housing development, the largest rental workforce housing development in Snowmass in 25 years. It has undergone a planned unit development process for nearly a year through the town’s planning commission and town council.
Town code requires voter approval on any single project that is projected to cost more than 40% of the town’s general fund. Approval of ballot question 2D does not obligate the town to build the Draw site if extenuating circumstances arise. It just authorizes the town to spend up to $86 million on the project. The most recent financial analysis estimated construction would cost $86 million for the two-tower project on a plot of land just northwest of Snowmass Town Hall.
The Draw site will be paid for with a portion of the town’s tourism tax revenues that are earmarked for affordable housing projects, grant funds, and public and private partnerships.
By: Lucy Peterson I Aspen Daily News I October 2, 2024
