I urge Durango voters to vote “No” on the Durango lodgers tax increase. The current lodgers tax is projected to generate over $1 million in revenue dedicated to advertising to increase tourism, which certainly seems sufficient to promote our destination.
Don’t we already suffer from the large increase in tourists crowding our streets and parking, coming from states that have dropped COVID-19 masking requirements, buying expensive properties for second homes, and making demands for more low-paid minimum wage workers to make their beds and serve their dinners?
Shouldn’t lodgers tax revenue be spent to address these impacts rather than trying to compete with other venues to bring more tourists to town? While 20% of the increase will go to transportation, 15% of the increase to support the arts and 11% to offset discretionary impacts, the lion’s share of the tax – 55% – will go to support more advertising and marketing to bring more tourists!
Please vote “No” on the April 6 ballot issue and send the lodgers tax proposal back to the drawing board to benefit the community at large and reduce the amount dedicated to the advertising budget of the marketing and promoting agencies.
Daniel MorgensternDurango
