YOUR AD HERE »

Edwards Riverwalk fee ‘not a tax’

Chris Outcalt
coutcalt@vaildaily.com
Edwards, CO Colorado
NWS Riverwalk Tax 1 DT 1-16-09
ALL |

EDWARDS, Colorado ” Receipts from purchases made in the Edwards Riverwalk have an extra line on them ” the calculation of an additional .5 percent of the total purchase price.

In addition to the traditional sales tax added on to purchases, the property owners association that runs the Riverwalk voted in 2006 to include a fee dedicated specifically to the area.

The .5 percent fee raises about $200,000 a year that is dedicated to infrastructure improvements and maintenance costs for the Riverwalk, said Ken Marchetti, who was on the Riverwalk at Edwards Property Owners Association board when it voted to introduce the fee.



And although it looks and acts like a tax, technically, it isn’t one, Marchetti said. Only governmental bodies have the ability to tax, he said.

“To the person paying it, it looks and feels like a tax ” it’s not a tax,” Marchetti said. “The most common kind is at a condo association where there’s a monthly assessment, commonly referred to as dues.”

Support Local Journalism



The Riverwalk hit the 10-year mark when the board started talking about the assessment, Marchetti said.

“You don’t have a lot of maintenance, but as things age and they need to be replaced your maintenance costs end up increasing,” he said. “Edwards being unincorporated, there’s not a municipality to take care of all of this.”

Because Edwards is unincorporated, it’s run by Eagle County and does not have its own services or municipal government.

The money goes toward everything ranging from snow removal and landscaping to replacing signs and working on enhancing traffic circulation.

Businesses are supposed to list the fee separately from sales tax, Marchetti said.

Staff Writer Chris Outcalt can be reached at 970-748-2931 or coutcalt@vaildaily.com.


Support Local Journalism