{"id":2447513,"date":"2019-08-13T22:16:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-14T04:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/aspens-electeds-plan-to-spend-tobacco-tax-revenue-on-substance-abuse-prevention\/"},"modified":"2019-08-13T22:16:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-14T04:16:00","slug":"aspens-electeds-plan-to-spend-tobacco-tax-revenue-on-substance-abuse-prevention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/aspens-electeds-plan-to-spend-tobacco-tax-revenue-on-substance-abuse-prevention\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen\u2019s electeds plan to spend tobacco tax revenue on substance abuse, prevention"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The city of Aspen is considering a $325,000 high-level plan to tackle substance abuse, addiction and prevention through the school district, aimed mostly at local youth and their parents.<\/p>\n

The city is sitting on just over $436,600 that it collected last year as a result of a voter-approved tobacco tax<\/a>, which is earmarked specifically for financing health and human services, tobacco-related health issues, and addiction and substance abuse education, according to CJ Oliver, the city\u2019s environmental health and sustainability director.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is enough money to make a tangible difference,\u201d he said Tuesday prior to making a presentation to Aspen City Council during a work session<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Council generally agreed on the partnership with the Aspen School District, as well as asking voters this fall to allow the city to keep an extra $111,622 from last year\u2019s collections.<\/p>\n

Aspen voters in 2017 agreed to a 40% sales tax on non-tobacco nicotine products and $3 on a pack of cigarettes.<\/p>\n

The city anticipated it would collect $325,000. Last year\u2019s additional money is subject to TABOR limitations and must either be returned to taxpayers, or the government can keep it if approved by voters.<\/p>\n

If city voters approve the surplus funds this fall, the city does not have to go back and ask again if more than $325,000 is collected in future years, according to City Finance Director Pete Strecker.<\/p>\n

The multi-year plan that\u2019s being developed by the city and school district is designed to fill a gap in services that was discovered as health specialists and government officials worked on the tobacco tax two years ago, and the ban on all flavored tobacco and vaping products<\/a> earlier this year.<\/p>\n

They realized that there is minimal work being done directly with youth in the schools and other settings to prevent the use of tobacco and particularly vaping products, according to Oliver.<\/p>\n

It has become a significant health and safety issue for students in the Aspen School District, according to recent statewide survey data.<\/p>\n

One of the more significant allocations from the city will be the partial funding of a full-time mental health clinician in the school district.<\/p>\n

Currently, Mind Springs Health has a part-time clinician in the schools; the city\u2019s $36,400 annual contribution makes it a full-time job.<\/p>\n

The city and Aspen Family Connections, which operates under the school district umbrella, will use the \u201cAFC Prevention Initiative\u201d as a multi-pronged approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scope ranges from teaching young people key life skills and educating them on the dangers of substance use to teaching parents the skills that will help them to effectively navigate parenting a child through a maze of endless temptations and risky situations they may face,\u201d Oliver wrote in a memo to council.<\/p>\n

Oliver noted a youth advisory group will be established as part of the effort.<\/p>\n

Tom Heald, interim superintendent of schools, presented council with statistical data that showed that Aspen schools exceed state levels when it comes to the perceived availability of drugs, parental initiatives favorable toward substances, favorable attitudes toward substance use and the associated risk factors.<\/p>\n

Heald said the statistics partly have to do with the socioeconomic class structure in Aspen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an opportunity of privilege we can\u2019t ignore,\u201d he told council.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why council members want to make sure that the tobacco tax money is targeting the adult population, as well.<\/p>\n

Councilman Skippy Mesirow asked how the city can actually make a dent in the solving the problem when kids are exposed to all kinds of substance abuse, including \u201cfour adults getting drunk midday on a Tuesday\u201d in downtown Aspen.<\/p>\n

\u201cA death by a thousand conversations,\u201d Heald responded.<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Ann Mullins said she is anxious to see specifics in the plan and a budget set around them.<\/p>\n

Interim City Manager Sara Ott said staff will work on an intergovernmental agreement with the school district and present a budget once details are worked out.<\/p>\n

It will likely include just the $325,000 in tax collections, and let the surplus funds stay in an account until voters decide what to do with the money and council comes up with other plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would prefer some money for other outreach efforts,\u201d Mayor Torre said.<\/p>\n

Mullins and Richards agreed that putting most of the money in one unified effort like the school district\u2019s Aspen Family Connections is more effective.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s taking more and more and more money to make an impact,\u201d Mullins said.<\/p>\n

Richards said it\u2019s an ongoing effort to capture all children going through the grades and eventually to graduation, so the city\u2019s tobacco tax revenue should be a continuous funding source.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just a one-year booster shot and you are good to go,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unknown what the tobacco tax collection amounts will be in future years, especially if neighboring communities pass their own taxes, Ott noted.<\/p>\n

Pitkin County commissioners are set to ask voters in November to approve a cigarette and tobacco product tax that mirrors the city\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Commissioners spent part of Tuesday afternoon clarifying ballot language and ensuring the county doesn\u2019t have to deal with the same tobacco tax issues the city must now address.<\/p>\n

The county will ask voters to impose a $3.20 tax on a pack of cigarettes and a 40% tax on other tobacco products beginning Jan. 1, with a 10-cent increase every year until the per pack tax is $4.<\/p>\n

Pitkin County, however, will likely estimate the amount of taxes it will collect at $700,000 \u2014 more than double the city\u2019s estimate \u2014 so it doesn\u2019t run into the same TABOR-related problems the city is attempting to remedy.<\/p>\n

The strategy will leave the upper Roaring Fork Valley with a tobacco market where high prices meant to deter use are consistent, county health officials have said.<\/p>\n

csackariason@aspentimes.com<\/a> Jason Auslander contributed to this article.<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The city of Aspen is considering a $325,000 high-level plan to tackle substance abuse, addiction and prevention through the school district, aimed mostly at local youth and their parents. The city is sitting on just over $436,600 that it collected last year as a result of a voter-approved tobacco tax, which is earmarked specifically for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2447513","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-24 22:47:45","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2447513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2447513\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2447513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2447513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2447513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}