Well, folks! It’s that time of year again! Your 2019 property taxes are due and up and up they continue to climb! Each year, for Aspen old-timers, the property taxes become an increasing financial burden, especially if they are on a fixed income and own their home.
Colorado provides a “homestead exemption,” which works for eastern Colorado but not for Aspen! What sticks in our craw is many old-timers pay almost as much as the Pitkin County commissioners combined! Yet their incomes are far less. Where is the equity? Or the justice?
It’s a struggle to pay high taxes if you are on a fixed income, especially in Aspen, that is for sure! So if you wish, in Aspen to stay, just shut up and taxes pay. And don’t you fuss or cuss because you can leave on a RFTA (Roaring Fork we Tax Away) bus! There is no free bus. I pay $700 a year in RFTA taxes alone.
Jim Markalunas
Aspen