The Aspen Education Association declared an impasse in contract negotiations with the Aspen School District over disagreements in proposed salary increases.
The AEA, the district’s teacher’s union, requested a 12% base salary increase, arguing new revenue streams from a voter-approved mill levy override could go toward the raises. The district offered an 8.5% base salary increase during the negotiations that began in February. The AEA negotiates staff salaries every year.
The district and the teacher’s union are at an impasse over adequate use of the new voter-approved revenue streams. Revenue from the increased Aspen Public Education Fund sales tax, the increased Snowmass Village Public Education Fund property tax and the mill levy override are expected to bring in an additional $10 million to the district. The district is proposing using about $4 million in Aspen sales tax revenue and $500,000 in Snowmass property tax revenue to go toward the proposed 8.5% base salary increase, with additional step increases and other incentives. The union’s proposal includes using a portion of the $5 million mill levy override funding to go toward its 12% base salary increase proposal.
Union leaders said the funding should go toward higher salaries because the district campaigned last November on using the additional revenue to continue to recruit and retain high quality teachers.
The district asked voters to approve a mill levy override to replenish its depleted reserve balance and make up for an anticipated shortfall in funding by fiscal year 2032 once a new statewide school finance formula is supposed to be implemented. The new formula would negatively impact a handful of districts, including Aspen.
The mill levy override ballot language said the property tax revenue would be used to help fund “educational purposes of the district, including, but not limited to: continuing to attract and retain high quality teachers; providing high-quality classroom materials, curriculum and technology for students; and supporting ongoing transportation, facility, and food service operations.”
“We’re actually agreeing that we should refill the fund balance as well, we just think we also need to have a second, equal priority of adding money to staff salaries,” said AEA Vice President Josh Anderson.
But the district said the mill levy override is primarily to build back its reserve balance. The district convened an expense-cutting task force in 2024 with the goal of reducing excess spending by up to $1 million per year to rebuild the reserve balance.
The district is in the process of rebuilding its reserves, and said it does not want to get itself in another situation where its reserves are depleted to an unhealthy level.
“We thank the voters who have made [raises] possible, and we definitely understand the responsibility of giving a sizable raise, make sure people have the chance to keep up with the cost of living around here,” said Superintendent Tharyn Mulberry. “But also we want to be really good financial stewards of this district so we don’t put ourselves into a financial turmoil again.”