Aspen Times
Aspen voters will be asked in November to approve increasing the current lodging tax by 1 percent to support marketing and special events for the resort. The Aspen Chamber Resort Association and Aspen Lodging Association asked the Aspen City Council on Monday night to approve including the measure on the upcoming ballot. “This is an opportunity for the people of Aspen to stand behind the notion of a sustainable tourism economy,” Mayor Mick Ireland said. “It is an opportunity for the community to cast a yes vote for the future.”
The Pitkin County ballot measure that would create a voluntary loan program for residential and commercial property owners interested in making energy upgrades won easy endorsement Tuesday from the Aspen Chamber Resort Association board of directors. “It would be a catastrophic failure if this didn’t pass,” said Auden Schendler, environmental affairs director for the Aspen Skiing Co., urging ACRA board members to push Referendum 1A’s passage among their various constituencies.