{"id":2458233,"date":"2020-05-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-09T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=325483"},"modified":"2020-05-09T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-05-09T06:00:00","slug":"survey-finds-support-for-colorado-river-district-ballot-measure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/survey-finds-support-for-colorado-river-district-ballot-measure\/","title":{"rendered":"Survey finds support for Colorado River District ballot measure"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Roaring Fork River just above Carbondale, and Mt. Sopris, on May 3. The Colorado River District works to keep water on the Western Slope, including in the Roaring Fork.<\/strong>
Brent Gardner-Smith\/Aspen Journalism<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The results of a survey to gauge voters\u2019 attitudes about the Colorado River Water Conservation District and Western Slope water returned some good news for the district. But due to concerns about the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, River District officials are still mulling whether to push ahead with a plan to ask voters to restore part of its original mill levy.<\/p>\n

River District general manager Andy Mueller said the overall results of the survey, which found that 65% of respondents would support a mill levy increase, were a ray of good news in an otherwise dark time. But at the board\u2019s April quarterly meeting, Mueller recommended that it postpone making a decision about whether to move forward on a ballot initiative until at least its July meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the economic devastation that is occurring throughout the district, the question we have to ask ourselves in July is: Is it appropriate to go to the voters to ask for additional funding at this time when they are suffering such great economic hardship?\u201d Mueller said. \u201cI don\u2019t know the answer to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The River District board is considering whether to ask voters to raise its property tax rate from a quarter-mill to a half-mill, taking its budget from about $4 million to $8 million. That works out to 50 cents for every $1,000 of assessed property value. One mill is the equivalent of $1 per $1,000 of assessed value.<\/p>\n

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