© 2024 Aspen Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

RFTA board lands tentatively on a mill-levy rate

Facebook/RFTA

The Roaring Fork Transportation Agency (RFTA) held a retreat with its board members on Thursday. They discussed a possible property tax, which could go on the ballot in November.

If it were passed, it would make it RFTA relatively sustainable on local tax dollars, instead of depending on state and federal funding, which RFTA CEO Dan Blankenship said is unreliable. The board members, spanning from Aspen to New Castle, tentatively agreed on a 3.65 mill levy rate.

If it were approved by voters, it would mean more buses, more often. It would also allow for improvements to the Aspen maintenance facility and an expansion of the bike-share program, We-Cycle, to Carbondale and Glenwood Springs.

If RFTA doesn’t get any new local funding, Blankenship said it would have to cut services.  

"That looks like that would be a 20 to 23 percent cut to our regional services, which would have a fairly significant impact on our schedule," he said.

RFTA will survey voters on their appetite for property tax. The board will decide this summer if they’ll put it on November’s ballot.