Eagle County Schools Seek $10.1 Million Mill Levy to Boost Teacher Pay

Aspen —The parking lot at the Avon High School gymnasium is quiet on a Wednesday evening, but the air inside is thick with the kind of anxiety that comes from watching a familiar routine unravel. A hundred locals stand there, listening to a pitch about how much their own wallets will bleed to keep the lights on in their children’s classrooms.

This is the part everyone skips past: the idea that Colorado, ranked fifth in the nation for education, is actually bleeding out.

The state’s education funding has taken hard hits, leaving a gap of roughly $3.5 billion annually in funds adequate to support schools across the state, according to a recent legislature-funded study. But for Eagle County School District (ECSD), the abstract state deficit feels like a personal eviction notice. The district has already cut around 45 full-time equivalent positions for the 2025-26 school year. This upcoming year, 76 more positions are gone.

The Education Foundation of Eagle County says state support alone isn’t enough anymore. So, they are turning to the only thing left: local voters.

Right now, the district and the foundation are testing the waters. They aren’t just asking for money; they are asking for permission to control their own destiny. The proposal is a mill-levy override, a property tax increase that bypasses the state equalization factor. It’s a move away from the volatile whims of the state legislature and toward a more stable, local revenue stream.

"Rather than choosing to do a sales tax that could be pulled at any point — something they’ve seen in Woodland Park, California — the chief financial officer for Eagle County School District, Bryson Beaver, said a mill-levy override allows the school district to control its own destiny," the Vail Daily reported.

The cost to the average homeowner? $133 a year. Or about $11 a month.

It sounds small. It feels manageable. But the scale of what they’re asking for is significant: an additional $10.1 million in annual tax revenue. And the promise is specific. Superintendent KC Somers says 80% to 85% of that total amount would go directly toward salaries. That’s an estimated 8% increase in pay for teachers and support staff. The goal isn’t new buildings or shiny new buses. It’s retention. It’s keeping the people who already know the kids from walking out the door.

The rest of the money would go toward reading, writing, and math instruction. It would mean teachers getting more time to analyze student progress. Students could receive more small-group support instead. The district also hopes to restore extracurriculars like art, music, and physical education that have likely been trimmed to the bone.

But will it stick?

The district is gauging voter perspective through surveys and presentations, hoping to build a case strong enough to survive the November election. The feedback gathered will aid the Board of Education when it considers a resolution on Aug. 26. That date is the deadline. If they don’t lock in the language and the strategy by then, the window closes.

Stand there long enough and you can see the calculation happening in the faces of the neighbors in the room. They know the state isn’t sending the full check. They know the cuts are real. They know that $11 a month is a small price to pay for a teacher who doesn’t quit in January.

Outside the gym, the mountain air is cooling. The headlights of pickup trucks cut through the twilight as families drive back up the valley, carrying the weight of a decision that will define their schools for the next decade.