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Basalt OKs property tax; wage hike will wait

Basalt Chamber of Commerce

Yesterday, the Basalt Town Council voted unanimously for a property tax, but they decided to hold off on the decision to pay town employees more.

 
Voters actually agreed to the property tax in 2013. The town sunk money into the Pan and Fork Property downtown, and voters agreed to be taxed at a later date if the town’s general fund couldn’t pay off the improvements completely. This is that later date.   

 
It’ll take about $917,000 to balance the town’s general operating budget.

 
Bernie Grauer is a councilman and on the finance committee.The property tax is inevitable, he said, and is a long time coming.“You know we’ve known it’s been headed in the wrong direction for a couple of years…” That’s because the town’s budget is operating in the red.

 
Elected officials also recognize the town’s employees should be paid more. Grauer said the small staff needs to see some return for their tremendous workload. The money for this is planned to come from sales tax revenue.

 

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