The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Council plans to be more active this time
by Mark Reaman
The Crested Butte Town Council gave the go-ahead to its staff to craft an ordinance calling for a November election to increase the sales tax rate to 4.5 percent, with the additional .5 percent earmarked for parks and recreation maintenance.
That half percent increase would be expected to raise about $350,000 annually. The council will not pursue a new excise tax on marijuana sales in town.
The staff has received some guidance from the Trust for Public Land that counsels municipalities for free if they try to pass such initiatives. Justin Spring of the TPL said the experience across the country is that ballot issues have a better chance of passing if they are not tied to another tax measure.
“I think last time people didn’t understand the intricacies of the budget,” said councilman Roland Mason. “They see these record sales taxes and don’t understand parks maintenance isn’t tied to sales tax. It is tied to the real estate transfer tax.”
“I like the idea that this is a steady source of revenue for parks and recreation,” said councilman Jim Schmidt. “It would work the same way we support the Mountain Express. As demand increases, so does revenue. Plus, people living in town only pay 21 percent of the sales tax. That’s a good ratio.”
Schmidt and Crested Butte mayor Aaron Huckstep listed some of the things the money could be used for, including the maintenance of Elk Avenue amenities, and public bathrooms.
“If we choose to move forward with this we can’t expect the town staff to carry the day,” said Huckstep. “We need to speak as a unified voice and support the initiative to make it happen. If it doesn’t pass this time we will have a real problem.”
“Having a group of citizens from the community helping to spearhead this would be helpful too,” pointed out town manager Todd Crossett.
“It can’t be a bird getting ready to fly off into the sky and we just hope it flies,” said Huckstep.
“It is remarkable [the initiative] did as well as it did last time with no formal campaign,” noted TPL’s Spring. The initiative lost by three votes last November.
But not every councilmember supports the idea. “So this would give us the fourth highest sales tax in the state,” said councilman Shaun Matusewicz. “It is striking not only who is at the top of the list but some of our biggest competitors are not there. We should look and see how they have such nice parks. Aspen is an example. What are they doing that we aren’t? I don’t want to put the burden on the public.”
“Our property taxes are low compared to a lot of other communities,” said councilman Glenn Michel. “Using sales tax to pay for parks is a good model based on who uses the parks, and that includes residents, those living near town and visitors. We aren’t just asking property owners to fund the parks. I’m comfortable with this. Parks are a great amenity for everyone.”
Matusewicz said some resorts have special restaurant or lodging taxes for such revenue to specifically target visitors.
“If residents only pay 21 percent of town sales tax, the majority is being raised from tourists already,” said Huckstep.
Finance director Lois Rozman again pointed out the relatively low cost of a .5 percent increase, saying it was only an additional 50 cents on a $100 purchase, or just five cents on a $10 drink.
The council voted 5-1 to have staff bring them an ordinance approving a sales tax increase proposal for the voters in November. Matusewicz voted against the idea. Chris Ladoulis was not at the meeting.
