Community organizations seek support on Routt County Ballot

Three organizations hve come forward with proposal for property tax increase to help fund their programs. Combined, the tax increase would add 4.56 mills, or $32 for every $100,000 of assessed residential value. For the average home in Steamboat Springs -- valued at $560,000, the three tax increases total an extra $180 a year.

• The East Routt Library Board is asking for an estimated 2.56-mill levy to be used for the construction and operating expenses of an expanded library facility. The mill levy would be applied to properties within the Steamboat Springs School District.
• Horizons Specialized Services is requesting a countywide 1-mill levy to help fund programs for Routt County residents with developmental disabilities.
• The PDR Citizens Advisory Board asked county commissioners to approve a ballot question to renew a mill levy dedicated to preserving agriculture land and open space in Routt County. The board also requested to increase the levy from 1 mill to 1.5 mills.

With the Purchase Development Rights tax ending in two years, Citizens Advisory Board members said they wanted to ask voters now to renew the tax. They hoped an additional half-mill would help them fund projects.

In 1996, Routt County voters became the first in the intermountain West to establish a tax dedicated to a county-funded Purchase of Development Rights program.

At present, the tax generates about $700,000 a year. The additional half mill would raise a little more than $1 million and would help fund more of the projects that come before the board.

Currently, the cost to a Routt County homeowner is $7.96 a year per $100,000 of assessed value. The tax would increase to $11.94 a year per $100,000 of assessed value if voters approve a 1.5-mill levy.

Read full article by Christine Metz in the Steamboat Pilot