Snowmass Village voters are facing an important tax threshold in this fall’s election, and if their elected officials’ feelings about it are any indication, two sales tax questions might have a tough time passing.
The town’s current sales tax rate is 9.9 percent, so any tax increase would bump that figure up to 10 percent, a rate that some consider prohibitive.
There are two measures on the November ballot that would do just that: (1) a .1 percent Pitkin County-wide sales tax increase to protect water quality, and (2) a .4 percent sales tax question posed to all voters in the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority’s jurisdiction to pay for bus system improvements.
“As a retailer, when the tax goes over 9.9 percent, it’s a dealbreaker — people start shopping elsewhere; they start dining elsewhere. People stop supporting local business,” said Snowmass Councilman Reed Lewis, who owns the Daily Bottle Shop and Grain Fine Food.
Lewis said he will “definitely vote against” the RFTA tax, but he did not know enough about the water tax to comment on it. He said he does not think any tax questions will pass this fall in Snowmass with the exception of the excise tax, a voluntary tax for people who want to purchase more square footage than they’re allowed.
Councilman Arnie Mordkin echoed Lewis’ sentiments on the RFTA tax, which would pay for systemwide improvements known as Bus Rapid Transit — the concept being a system that is far swifter, more convenient and more comfortable than it is today.
In addition to pushing the sales tax rate well over 10 percent, the RFTA tax would not apply to all of the areas RFTA serves, and most Snowmass council members say that is not fair. The city of Rifle and Garfield County have not yet joined RFTA — and therefore don’t levy a tax for RFTA service — and that is not equitable, said Mordkin.
“I made it very clear to my colleagues at RFTA that I would not support [a tax increase],” said Mordkin. “I’ve been talking about this for years, and we’re not getting as far as I wanted. [It’s about] parity with the upper and lower valley.”
“The ideal situation would be for all jurisdictions within RFTA to pay the same percentage of sales into mass transit,” which they do not do now, said Snowmass Village Mayor Doug “Merc” Mercatoris.
Although he said it would be “voters’ choice” and he would not actively campaign against the RFTA tax, “my preference would be for it not to go over 10 percent.”
Mercatoris said he needs to gather more information about the water tax, and he “might get behind” the right tax.
Mercatoris added that in a typical year, the town could consider reducing one of its existing taxes to compensate for a new tax, but this is not the year to do it with the state of the economy and the start of large payments for the new town hall.
Of the 9.9 percent total sales tax collected in Snowmass, one percent is allocated to the general fund. Mercatoris said that the general fund “is going to be tight this year. It would make it hard to lower any taxes.”
Councilwoman Sally Sparhawk said both proposals represent “good causes,” but with so many tax proposals on the ballot, some are sure to lose.
As for the potential 10 percent tax rate, it’s like the difference between paying $10.99 and paying $11, she said. “Clearly, for some people that’s an issue, and I don’t know how much impact it makes. But even if it’s [only] a perception, sometimes perception is reality.”
Only Councilman John Wilkinson said that both the water and mass transit tax proposals are necessary.
“It’s pushing up the costs and making us uncompetitive, but we have to provide these kinds of needs for a community,” he said, adding, “Yeah, we need these things, but at what cost?”
Even if the taxes don’t pass, Snowmass’ tax rate guarantees that it will have to confront this question again soon.
Tourists who stay in Snowmass Village hotels and lodges pay an additional 2.4 percent tax for group sales, which bumps the total lodging tax to 12.3 percent. But higher taxes for lodging are generally accepted as typical in resort towns, officials said.
lutz@aspendailynews.com
