The Buena Vista Sanitation District is a public body organized and created by taxpaying electors of the District on March 17, 1953. The purpose of the District is to provide a complete sanitary sewer system for the District and the inhabitants thereof. In the organization petition to the Chaffee County District Court, the description of improvements to be constructed and installed was:

The boundaries of the District were to be identical to those of the Town of Buena Vista. However, over the years, the boundaries have changed due to numerous inclusions into the District, which were not included in annexation to the Town.

The District sets a mill levy every year and the members of the District are taxed accordingly. The taxes collected constitute a small portion of the District’s total revenues, approximately 6.5 percent. The main income for the District comes from monthly sewer charges which are set at a flat rate, septage charges, CDOC charges and sewer tap fees.

In 2002, the District entered into an intergovernmental agreement with Chaffee County to allow persons in the unincorporated area known as Johnson Village to tap into the District main. Chaffee County formed an improvement district and constructed a collection system for Johnson Village which then discharged into the Buena Vista Sanitation sewer main. The rates for Johnson Village differ from the normal rates charged to members of the District. Johnson Village is not in the District boundaries.