Basalt Town Council will vote Tuesday to authorize the voluntary refund of about $2 million in overcollected property tax mill levies from the past three fiscal years.
Last fall, Basalt's top administrators found that taxpayers were overcharged because raising the mill levy 10 times since 2009 violated the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, or TABOR. TABOR states local governments cannot raise the mill levy without citizen vote.
Ryan Mahoney, the Basalt Town Manager, said the town council must approve three things: the voluntary refund, the method of refunding the money and the city using $2 million from the budget.
"Spending $2 million dollars on a refund wasn't contemplated when we were passing last years' budget, so you have to authorize that. So it's kind of three seperate actions," Mahoney said.
He said all three motions are likely to pass. If they do, Mahoney said residents who apply for a refund can expect to see the money around October.
