The Colorado Association of Ski Towns’ legislative idea to allow municipalities to enact “vacancy taxes” on empty homes and short-term/vacation rentals strikes some Durango property owners the wrong way.
Other residents are opposed to vacation rentals that often crop up in second homes.
Some Durango city officials said they don’t see such a tax, which would be up to voters to decide within their own municipalities as proposed by CAST, being necessary in Durango because it doesn’t have enough vacation rentals or second homes to justify it.
CAST Executive Director Margaret Bowes told The Durango Herald in an email the proposed tax certainly isn’t for every municipality. That’s why it proposes enabling towns and cities to pass their own vacancy taxes if the collected taxes would make an impact on housing stock.
“This kind of tax is not for every community,” she said.
Many municipalities in Colorado are currently prevented from enacting such a tax as a result of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) restrictions, as Nicol Killian, Bayfield Community Development director, said in an interview earlier in September.
CAST suggests legislation that would allow municipalities to ask voters to approve a vacancy tax.
“CAST supports legislation to allow cities, towns and counties to pass taxes on empty homes, with approval of their voters, in order to fund much-needed housing,” Bowes said. “It is important to note that we are not proposing a statewide empty homes tax but rather enabling legislation only, giving communities the authority to consider such a tax locally.”
She said an empty homes tax would encourage renting homes to locals; the tax revenue would go toward local housing efforts.
“CAST is just beginning its work reaching out to potential partners and other stakeholders to explore the details of the proposed legislation,” she said. “We do not know of any communities that have already decided they would seek an empty homes tax. Many CAST member communities support the proposal as it would be another “tool in the toolbox” for local governments to address their housing needs.”
The proposal, though it still raises many questions, has some homeowners concerned. Others say such a tax is needed.
Monty Davis, 70, whose primary residence is in Texas, said he has owned a second home in Durango for 17 years. He only occasionally occupies the residence, although he enjoys the time he does spend in Durango and contributes to the local economy during his stays.
He opposes a vacancy tax. He said he pays property taxes and homeowner association dues on the house he bought and paid for just the same as residents do. The difference is he can’t vote in local, county or state elections.
A vacancy wouldn’t benefit workers who can’t afford housing, he said. It would be leveraged by politicians to “buy votes” or raise taxes so much that property values are driven down. He rhetorically asked if the next step is to confiscate and redistribute houses.
“Honestly this is taxing those who use the least government ‘services’ to redistribute wealth. Plain and simple. I am certainly not for this proposal,” he said, adding it would drive away part-time residents and their outside revenue.
La Plata County resident Kristin Moran did not say she supports a vacancy tax, but she said she opposes more short-term/vacation rentals.
She said the solution to the affordable housing shortage is not “more poorly build high rise condos, or turning hotels into long term rentals,” but “serious limits on short term rentals” and less profits for people who buy “affordable” homes to flip them into vacation rentals.
“I would love to know the percentage of homes in this area that are owned by people that live out of state and bought before 2020. Now they get to become rich off our broke local working force people,” she said.
That’s a number that’s proved tricky for officials to pin down.
La Plata County Assessor Carrie Woodson told the Herald earlier in September the county has no idea how many second homes or vacation rentals are present within the county and it doesn’t have the means to track them all.
The city of Durango places some limitations on the number of vacation rentals that are allowed in certain neighborhoods, although according to its website it does not have a citywide cap.
Moran said $1,500 to $2,100 rent should be in reach for a family of four because many area jobs don’t pay over $4,000 a month.
She pointed to an Animas City Park Overlook townhome that was advertised for rent on Zillow for $2,900 per month earlier in September. It has since been taken off the market.
Ten of the 22 townhome units were built for workforce housing, and four of those units were built with deed restrictions in mind. The remaining units were built for sale at market rates.
“It will be a great day when investors stop scooping up all the houses and inflating rent and listing them as short-term rentals for a huge profit,” she said.
cburney@durangoherald.com
