Buena Vista Inclusion in Chaffee County Fire Protection District

The Chaffee County Fire Protection District already answers fire and emergency calls in Buena Vista, but most of the town lies outside its boundaries. Question 6A, titled "Buena Vista Inclusion," asks whether to bring into the district all real property in the Town of Buena Vista that, on November 3, 2026, is not already inside it. Under the district's Resolution 2026-14, the question goes to the eligible electors within the area to be included. The district board adopted that resolution unanimously on June 18, 2026.

Since 2021 the district has served the area under an agreement with the town. Each year the town pays the district, from its General Fund, an amount intended to equal what the district would receive in property and specific ownership taxes if the area were inside its boundaries. The town administrator's May 20 memo says town residents and property owners do not vote in district board elections or on district ballot questions and cannot serve on the district board, and that district voters outside town limits decide district debt and mill levies.

Inclusion places property in the area under the district's levy. The ballot makes inclusion subject to one condition: that on or before July 15, 2026, the Buena Vista Board of Trustees adopted a resolution committing to reduce the town's property tax rate each year by 3.936 mills, the reduction printed in the question. The trustees adopted Resolution No. 2026-51 on July 14, 2026. Once a majority votes for inclusion and the district court's order is recorded and takes effect, the Board of Trustees "is committed to reducing the Town's property tax by 3.936 mills for 2027 and for every year thereafter" as long as the town stays in the district and receives its fire protection services.

The resolution's recitals state the trustees' desire to make inclusion "tax neutral for property owners in the Town." Town staff wrote that the cut stays fixed each year, "regardless of any future changes to the Fire District's mill levy." Staff added that the resolution "does not establish the Town's 2027 property tax levy."

The district's notice to property owners says the district is currently authorized to assess 3.963 mills, which may be adjusted under a revenue stabilization measure voters approved in 2018. The town administrator's May 20 memo puts the district's tax at "~3.963" mills; the ballot and Resolution 2026-51 print 3.936. The notice says the district is not subject to a maximum mill levy, though its property tax revenue growth is capped at 5.25% annually, and that TABOR "prohibits the Fire District from increasing its property taxes without prior voter approval." After inclusion, residents of the area vote in district board elections and on future district ballot questions, the May 20 memo says.