Eagle County Voters Weigh $10.1M Tax Hike to Save Teacher Pay

Aspen —Colorado is the fifth wealthiest state in the nation. It ranks 50th in teacher wage competitiveness. That gap is what Ballot Issue 5B is trying to close, and it’s why the Eagle County School District (ECSD) is asking voters to approve a local property tax override this November.

The obvious take is that 5B is about better test scores or new textbooks. It’s not. On paper, it’s a $10.1 million annual tax increase starting in 2027. In practice, it’s a retention strategy for teachers who are currently priced out of the valley.

Let’s do the math on what that actually costs you. The estimated cost is about $11 per month for every $1 million of assessed value on your property. If you own a home with an assessed value of $500,000, that’s roughly $5.50 a month. If your home is assessed at $1 million, it’s about $11 a month. The district argues that this modest monthly bump is the price of admission for keeping educators in Eagle County rather than losing them to districts with better pay or lower cost-of-living ratios.

The Vail Daily reported that the district is feeling the strain of this exodus. Riley Hudnall, a first-year teacher at Avon Elementary School, moved to the East Coast after struggling to afford living in the valley. She told the Vail Daily that despite loving her students, the expenses were "just too much." Her departure isn’t an anomaly; it’s a symptom of a statewide wage competitiveness crisis that hits mountain counties hardest.

When a teacher leaves, the district spends roughly $12,000 to replace them, according to Wendy Rimel, president of the Education Foundation of Eagle County. That replacement cost is a direct hit to the budget that could otherwise go toward instruction. But the damage isn’t just financial; it’s structural.

Eric Mandeville, principal of Eagle Valley Middle School, said the district has resorted to combining classes because staff numbers are dropping. This means teachers have more children to oversee and less one-on-one time with students. It also removes the opportunity to offer a wider variety of classes. David Russell, principal of Gypsum Creek Middle School, noted that while his school still offers art and music, it has lost technology education. Intervention opportunities for kids with disabilities have taken a significant hit as well.

Russell pointed out the core logistical problem: "The district needs to have a healthy, steady supply of high-quality teachers that are attracted to the area that want to live in Colorado, want to live in the mountains, and that’s hard to do when you can’t afford a house."

The revenue from 5B would stay in the school district. It could go toward retaining and attracting teachers, strengthening reading, writing, and math instruction, restoring electives like art, music, and physical education, or ensuring student access to mental health professionals. The district is betting that by offering salaries that can compete with neighboring districts, they can stop the bleeding.

Critics might argue that a tax increase is a blunt instrument for a wage problem, but the district’s data suggests they’ve run out of other options. They can’t cut their way to stability when the cuts are already manifesting as combined classes and lost electives. They can’t hire their way out of a housing crisis with current salary structures if teachers can’t afford to live in the valley.

For locals, the decision comes down to a simple trade-off: an $11 monthly tax increase on a $1 million assessed home, or continued erosion of educational quality as teachers leave for places where their wages stretch further. The district is asking you to vote "yes" not because they want more money for its own sake, but because the alternative is a classroom with fewer teachers and less individual attention.

The practical bottom line: If you vote yes, your property tax bill goes up by a few dollars to a dozen or so per month. If you vote no, the district continues to lose educators, replace them at a cost of $12,000 each, and keep cutting programs like tech ed and intervention services to make ends meet. The $10.1 million isn’t a line item for luxury; it’s the cost of keeping the lights on in Eagle County classrooms.