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Pitkin County voters could potentially decide two monumental local issues in the Nov. 5 general election.
The Pitkin County commissioners will consider this summer referring a question to the ballot that would raise property taxes to support affordable housing efforts.
Meanwhile, a grassroots group called Citizens Against Bigger Planes is contemplating an initiative ballot question regarding improvements at the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport.
Neither issue is certain yet, but there is plenty of time to get the questions on the ballot. The county clerk wants notification of ballot questions in August; ballot language must be finalized on Sept. 6.
Citizens Against Bigger Planes has hired an attorney to help blaze a path and the legal team is looking at all options, Chuck Butler, an organizer of the group, said on Friday. He said the group intends to set its course this week. In an earlier interview, he said the group hopes to persuade the county commissioners to refer a question on airport improvements to the ballot. If that doesn’t happen, the group will seek signatures on an initiative petition to force a question onto the ballot. Citizens Against Bigger Planes doesn’t want the runway reconstructed in a way that would accommodate larger commercial and private aircraft.
The county commissioners are well aware of the effort. They have scheduled a closed session today to discuss the issue. The two-hour executive session agenda is labeled, “ASE (Pitkin County Airport) proposed ballot measure for the purpose of receiving legal advice from counsel.”
On the housing front, the commissioners are considering placing a question on the ballot. It’s the third consecutive year the board has considered a housing ballot question. The board majority decided in each of the prior two years not to refer a question for lack of a solid housing plan to present to voters. This year, a plan is coming together though there hasn’t been a definitive decision on the ballot question, said Commissioner Kelly McNicholas Kury. She has pressed the hardest among the commissioners to seek a dedicated funding source for affordable housing.
McNichols Kury noted Monday that the county currently collects an affordable housing mitigation fee on new development and it uses a small amount of general funds to provide housing initiatives for its own employees. But those funding sources aren’t enough to make much of a dent in the need.
“I think the board has honed in on the fact that year after year after year in the community surveys, we hear from the community and people who have lived in the community for 30 years and have their own homes that housing is the biggest priority that the county should be working on,” Kury said.
Preservation of rural lands is also a top priority, making the issue a difficult one to balance.
“There’s a lot of acknowledgement that if we’re going to do both, we have to be thoughtful about it,” McNichols Kury said. “My sense of the board is, ‘Let’s put it to the voters and see if that support manifests into a yes for a ballot question on a property tax.’
“These are big turnout years for presidential elections,” she continued. “My guess is 12,000-plus voters. Will 50% of them plus one say yes to this question? I personally believe there is enough support in the community for that. It will require a thoughtful campaign and a thoughtful structure to the money.”
The commissioners held a retreat May 13 dedicated to affordable housing and whether to refer a question to the ballot. There is general concern among board members about pursuing a property tax increase after taxes soared this year because of rapidly escalating property values. There’s also a concern over the Aspen School District placing a question on the ballot.
“We didn’t really want to be in competition with them,” said County Commissioner Patti Clapper.
But, McNicholas Kury noted, the county government currently has no substantial way of helping address one of the biggest issues facing the upper valley.
“Right now we have nothing to come to the table with when people want to partner with us,” she said. “It’s not like we haven’t had other entities reach out to partner. We have nothing to give. There’s no funding to offer. Unless we’re holding the land, we’re not a viable partner at this point.”
Clapper was among the commissioners who were reluctant the last two years to place a question on the ballot without a solid plan. This year a plan is coming together and there is a good chance an affordable housing question will land on the ballot, she said. No formal decision has been made. The board will hold work sessions and would require formal discussion to place a question on the ballot in November.
McNicholas Kury said the commissioners and staff have been discussing the possibility of creating a housing trust to undertake affordable housing initiatives. It would be supported by revenues from a property tax but a trust could also take private donations and grants. Teton County in Wyoming and Sun Valley have trusts that Pitkin County has examined.
“I think the board is most excited about the way we’re thinking about structuring such a program for the county,” she said.
Clapper said another key component of a county affordable housing program would be working with partners, similar to what occurred with the Basalt Vista project, where the Roaring Fork School District provided land, Pitkin County and Basalt provided funds for infrastructure and Habitat For Humanity Roaring Fork oversaw the construction. Holy Cross Energy was a partner in making the project net zero for energy consumption.
Currently, the county is looking at an effort that would deliver 250 units of affordable housing over 10 years, according to McNicholas Kury. The 250 units would include buy-downs of existing free-market units to keep them affordable; transitional housing for residents who are homeless; and units that could potentially be added to the Phillips Mobile Home Park, which the county owns.
“We haven’t voted on anything. We’re still contemplating the structure,” McNicholas Kury said.