Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Fire District Ballot topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Aspen Fire District outlines 0.5% sales tax and bond options to fund wildfire mitigation and fleet needs
Summary
Aspen Fire leaders described two ballot options — retaining a sunsetting mill bond and asking for a 0.5% sales tax — to support wildfire mitigation, staffing and rising apparatus costs. Staff warned revenues would be delayed until next year and that failure would require difficult service tradeoffs.
Rick Valentine, chief and CEO of the Aspen Fire Protection District, and operations staff told council the district is considering asking voters to continue the expiring 0.24‑mill bond and to approve, for the first time in Colorado for a fire district, a 0.5% sales tax. Valentine said the bond sunsets after 2026 and the district’s capital needs and wildfire workload exceed the revenue the bond alone would provide.
Operations chief Jake Anderson said equipment and fleet costs have climbed sharply — “The ladder truck that we bought that's sitting over there right now, I think we paid 1,200,000 for. 1,200,000. By the time we replace that … it will be in excess of $3,000,000” — and noted exemptions in the sales tax (groceries, diapers, medications) would reduce projected sales‑tax receipts by roughly 30–35%. Council asked what would happen if measures failed; staff said basic emergency response would continue but the district would likely have to curtail planned wildfire programs and make substantial budget choices.
