The Eagle County Conservation District Board has voted to initiate a ballot measure in the parliamentary elections on November 5, 2024 and calls on property owners to levy a tax of 0.15 per mille.

The Eagle County Conservation District is a special district with the powers of a public corporation created under the Colorado Soil Conservation Act of 1937. It represents property owners in Eagle County.

The county estimates that the new tax, if approved, will cost owners of million-dollar homes about $10 a year and will generate about $645,000 annually for the county.

The district plans to use the funds to “maintain drinking water quality and the health of rivers and streams such as the Eagle River and Colorado River. This will be accomplished by working with local residents and ranchers to improve water conservation; by restoring and protecting the health of forests and grasslands to reduce wildfire risk to communities; and by maintaining populations of native birds, fish and wildlife such as bald eagles, elk, moose and trout.”

A poll conducted by the district in June 2024 found that three in five eligible voters would vote for the potential measure, with support for the proposal running along party lines and a majority of Republicans saying they would vote against it.

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“Voters say they would vote yes for a myriad of reasons, but the top reasons are water protection/quality, conservation, wildlife protection and the fact that the tax won’t be increased much,” the poll says. “With that in mind, it makes sense that funding issues that emphasize water quality, conservation and wildfire risk reduction would be high on the list of most important issues voters say should be funded.”

For much of its history, the Eagle County Conservation District was a relatively inactive district, struggling with limitations due to insufficient funding.

But district engineer Allegra Waterman-Snow says a pivotal change came several years ago when the conservation district partnered with Eagle County to hire a full-time district manager, allowing the district to apply for state and federal grants.

“Today, the Eagle County Conservation District manages over $2.3 million in grants that flow into the community in the form of cost-shares, rebates and conservation programs,” Waterman-Snow wrote in a Vail Daily column in December. “Unfortunately, many of these funding sources are not sustainable.”

The City of Eagle will consider a resolution on Tuesday to support the county’s mill levy. The city has proposed a resolutionsays the district “offers many programs that align with and support the City of Eagle’s mission to maintain and improve the quality of life for everyone in our community.”

Waterman-Snow said the district’s programs that could affect the average Eagle County homeowner include “a homeowner with a small front yard applying for reimbursement for their irrigation system, optimizing outdoor water efficiency by taking advantage of matching grants from the Eagle County Conservation District,” and an HOA receiving information “on how to convert their large, non-essential lawns into resilient, natural landscapes that require little to no water.”