Roaring Fork School District Pushes Tax Hike Amidst Arts Community Gratitude

The Roaring Fork School District is trying to sell you a tax hike by promising it will fix the very problems it failed to solve last time.

It’s a classic political sleight of hand. Superintendent Anna Cole is pushing hard for a mill levy override, arguing there’s a "limited window" to get it done before the moment slips away. She claims the extra cash will prioritize emerging bilingual students, students of color, and those living below the federal poverty line. It sounds noble. It sounds like exactly what the district needs.

But here’s the thing though: the math doesn’t quite line up with the rhetoric.

Philip Maass, a single retiree living on a fixed income in Glenwood Springs, isn’t buying the urgency. He’s looking at the ledger, not the press release. The proposed override would hit residential owners with $16 per $100,000 of assessed value. For a $500,000 home, that’s an extra $80 in tax burden. Not a fortune for a wage earer in the valley, but for a retiree struggling with the rising cost of food and fuel in an expensive area, it’s a pinch.

Maass points to the 2021 override as a cautionary tale. That tax increase was supposed to boost test scores. Instead, an August 2024 Post Independent article noted that long-standing achievement gaps for disadvantaged student groups continued to widen. Multilingual students weren’t benefiting from the increased mill levy in Re-1.

Is this just throwing good money after bad?

The school board supports the proposal despite a dwindling budget and reduced new student enrollment. They’re betting that more money equals better outcomes. Maass is betting that without a change in strategy, it’s just more money down the same drain. And that matters because when you’re on a fixed income, every dollar counts. You don’t have the luxury of assuming the next billion dollars spent will magically fix the previous billion dollars’ worth of inefficiency.

While the district debates the fiscal health of its students, the arts community is busy painting the town purple.

The Glenwood Springs Arts Council, known as the Glenwood Springs Center for the Arts, has been a staple of this community since 1983. They’ve moved to a new location at 216 6th St., Suite A, and they’re grateful. The building’s exterior is donated by the Glenwood Hot Springs Pool and Lodge, a arrangement that’s held for several years.

But it’s not just about real estate. It’s about who shows up to maintain it.

Two weekends ago, four volunteers took up brushes and rolled. Shelly Lott had the idea to paint the exterior purple. It came to fruition on May 9, thanks to the labor of Carolyn Cipperly, Curt Leitzinger, Edwin Parra, and David Lofland.

Cipperly is a tireless volunteer involved in the historical preservation commission. Leitzinger and Parra are local artists — Leitzinger’s work is currently hanging in the gallery. Lofland is a member of Mountain Rescue Aspen. They didn’t get paid. They didn’t get a press release quoting them about "strategic investments." They just showed up, got their hands dirty, and made the building look like something worth protecting.

There’s a quiet contrast here. One group is asking for more taxes to fix systemic issues that haven’t fully budged. The other group is showing up on a Saturday morning to paint a building purple, honoring the community that sustains them.

The arts council isn’t asking for a mill levy override. They’re asking for gratitude. And in a town where the cost of living is climbing and the budget is tightening, that kind of tangible, volunteer-driven effort might be the only thing holding the cultural fabric together.

Maass worries about the $80 hit to his property tax. The arts council volunteers worry about whether the next generation will see the value in showing up. Both are looking at the same town, just through different lenses. One sees a budget line item. The other sees a purple wall, freshly painted, waiting for the next volunteer to pick up the brush.