During this week’s meeting, Basalt Town Council reviewed its 2025 year-end audit, which revealed an increase in Basalt’s already strong net position.
Net position, which is the sum of all of the Town’s assets and liabilities, is presented as a useful indicator of Basalt’s overall financial position. In total, Basalt’s assets and outflows of resources totaled $121,160,006, and its liabilities and deferred outflows were $22,756,766, leading to a total net position of $98,403,240. This value is an increase of $5,821,209 from the year before. The audit determined that this increase can be attributed to strong investments in capital assets, high performances in general taxes and principal payments on long-term debt.
A vast majority of the assets contributing to this sum are capital assets, such as land, buildings, equipment and infrastructure, which account for approximately 73% of Basalt’s net position. Notably, these are not liquid assets available for future spending and cannot be used to pay off debts, although their value is reported in relation to debts.
In terms of liquid funds, the revenue over expenditure rates in 2025 for the general and restricted funds were $763,359 and $2,366,243, respectively. However, this increase was significantly offset by capital expenditures, including the Midland Streetscape Project and an affordable housing project at Stott’s Mill, leading to an increase of $291,359 in the two funds combined compared to 2024. At the end of 2025, the unrestricted fund balance (which is the total of already committed, assigned and unassigned components of the balance) of the general fund was $12,069,619.
With regards to government spending, expenses for government activities increased by $749,430 to a total of $17,204,051. This increase can be attributed to spending on open space and trail systems as well as the granting of funds requested by the West Mountain Regional Housing Coalition to help residents purchase two local mobile home parks.
Water service charges increased by $167,584 from 2024, or by about 15.4%. Over one half of this increase was driven by a water usage increase of approximately 24 million gallons.
The 2025 audit was conducted by McMahon and Associates. A yearly financial audit is required by Colorado statute. The Town submits its yearly audit to the Government Finance Officers Association in hopes of receiving a Certificate for Excellence in Financial Reporting Award, which the Town has received in previous years and hopes to receive this year in recognition of its finance team. Once the audit is finalized, the document will be available to the public for review.
In other news …
Stage 1 fire restrictions are in effect in Basalt. However, Town Manager Gloria Kassch-Buerger stated in her manager’s report at the beginning of the meeting that stage 2 restrictions are to be put into effect in Pitkin and Eagle counties very soon. In fact, Pitkin sent out a press release that stage 2 will be implemented on Friday, June 26.
The Roaring Fork Transportation Coalition also presented its initial findings report to address worsening traffic up and down the Roaring Fork Valley. The report finds that, overall, 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year can be attributed to vehicle traffic. In addition, the report estimates that approximately 34,000 car seats are left empty by commuters driving the corridor every day.
The coalition aims to cut CO2 emissions as well as increased travel times by reducing the number of daily vehicles on the road by 5,000. This traffic reduction also aims to put roughly 60 minutes back into the average commuter’s day, freeing up time for recreation, relaxation or additional income streams.
Strategies to improve traffic include additional subsidies for RFTA to increase trip frequency and reduce ticket prices, a carpooling app, potentially overseen by RFTA, to increase ridesharing, general roadway improvements, especially around Aspen, and potential new high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes to fund these new programs and projects.
The HOT lanes would resemble those found on I-70. Drivers with passengers can pay an additional toll to drive in an express lane and beat traffic. Pricing for the HOT lanes would vary based on the speed and flow of traffic. The report states that, for most of any 24-hour period, the fee would be as minimal as 65-cents, but once congestion increases, the fee would likewise increase.
According to the report, for the first few years, the HOT lanes would potentially reduce congestion. After that period, however, the effect of induced traffic would mean that the HOT lanes would not be any faster than typical traffic is now. The goal, therefore, is to generate revenue in the short term for alternate transport options.