One warm night in July Aspen's elected leaders declared an emergency, and they've been operating in crisis mode ever since. In a nearly empty council chambers, the City Council on July 9 passed an "emergency ordinance" that effectively preventing thousands of property owners from altering their buildings, including the ultimate Aspen sin - tearing them down to build anew.

City Council members didn't talk much among themselves or with the public on the direction of their historic preservation program before they voted on the ill-fated Ordinance 30. The law prevented the demolition or alteration of any building more than 30 years old without a bureaucratic and somewhat arbitrary review to determine its historic significance.

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ASPEN - City government will forgo nearly $2.5 million in excess property taxes next year in order to give Aspen homeowners a break on their tax bills.

The Aspen City Council on Monday voted unanimously to credit property owners .611 mills, which is between a 40 and 45 percent decrease from what could have levied on property owners, who were facing significant tax increases.

"This is a major amount of money that the city is going to forgo," said Mayor Mick Ireland, adding it's the first time city government has given a tax credit in decades. "This is actually a historic moment in the city of Aspen."

The city's current mill levy rate of 5.41 equates to $5.41 for every $1,000 of assessed property value.

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Jeff Pogliano

Jeff is a third generation Coloradoan whose parents built their first home in Aspen in the early 1950's. He can remember all the streets except Main Street were gravel when he was a small boy. Graduating from Western State College in 1981, Jeff has sold property in not only Aspen, but in different areas of Colorado's Western Slope.

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