After two years on Council, Muntean wants to build on housing, fiscal sustainability efforts in second term
- Dylan Anderson
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
Current at-large Council member Steve Muntean says he intends to run for a four-year term representing district two.
After two years as the at-large representative on Steamboat Springs City Council, Steve Muntean says he is now running for a four-year term representing district two to continue work on a variety of issues from housing to fiscal sustainability and mental health.
Muntean said he feels blessed to live in Steamboat and wants to be a part of addressing the major issues facing the community.
“I put myself into as many different things as I could to learn the most about such things as housing and climate and fiscal sustainability,” Muntean said in an interview with the Yampa Valley Bugle last week. “I have the time to do this and I feel my knowledge and expertise in this now is such that I can make an even bigger contribution.”
First elected in 2023 to the two-year at-large seat on council, Muntean said he plans to run for the district two seat, which comes with a four-year term. Current district two Council member Joella West said she intends to run for the at large seat, a swap that the two discussed and agreed was best for both of them.
Looking at the issues, Muntean said housing is the one he has focused on the most in his first two years. He said he is currently working on a partnership with large employers who need workforce housing on various strategies to meet their needs. Another effort has been more regional, working to understand housing demand from Craig to Yampa as well as what is in the process of being built.
“What are we doing with the [short-term rental tax] money?” Muntean said. “We have close to $30 million now, and I’m working on four or five things around infill lots in Steamboat to try to get them moving quicker.”
Muntean said many of the numbers in the Yampa Valley Housing Authority’s recent housing study were staggering, especially the statistic that a quarter of renters are spending more than 50% of their income on rent.
“One of the things that I’m really excited about is how we can use some of these funds for long-term rental subsidies,” Muntean said. “If you could get that 50% down to 30% by subsidizing the rent and maybe reducing it by $1,000 a month with a deed restriction to make it more affordable for people, those STR funds could go a long way.”
“All this STR funding, we got to utilize and we got to utilize in a more urgent strategic way and make a difference,” Muntean continued, adding that Brown Ranch was a part of that conversation.
Fiscal sustainability is another big issue for Muntean, who isn’t as enthused with Council’s current push for a vacancy tax as other council members. Still, sales tax revenues are not keeping pace with inflation.
“As we work on the 2026 budget this fall, we’re looking at opportunities also to cut spending and eliminate waste,” Muntean said. “That being said, we have a number of capital projects that are unfunded.”
Some of those projects include a new Mountain Fire Station, new buses for Steamboat Springs Transit, and a second sheet of ice at Howelsen Hill.
“All of these things are out there, but they require funding. To me we need to be thinking very strategically about our fiscal sustainability model and whether sales tax ongoing is going to give us that opportunity to do that,” Muntean said.
Muntean said he was supportive of exploring a vacancy tax to address budget issues, but he has concerns primarily around how it will be enforced, how it will be spent and the potential burden that it puts on homeowners. He has brought up the potential for a property tax at recent council meetings during vacancy tax discussions, and feels people are more open minded about it than in the past.
“I do think we need to get a community group together and really sort through what is the best fiscal strategy for the next 25 plus years for this town,” Muntean said. “We may also want to cut sales tax. We may also say, is sales tax on food, on groceries, that’s kind of regressive in the sense that it hurts lower income people more than it hurts high income people.”
“Can [a property tax] pass?” Muntean asked. “I think we’re at least ready to have the discussion and at least get a group of community people together to lead that discussion.”
Muntean has also taken a special interest in addressing mental and behavioral health issues during his time on Council, something he wants to build on if reelected. For example, many people rely on home health services that are becoming harder and harder to fund.
“There are a number of things there just around that piece, let alone the whole piece of the number of suicides that we find ourselves in,” Muntean said. “I really want to focus on that if reelected as well of seeing what we can do as a city and a county to be supportive of those efforts.”
Council Candidate Petitions are available starting Aug. 5. All prospective candidates must get 25 signatures from registered electors in their district and return the petition by Aug. 25 to get their name on the ballot.
If you are planning to rund for Steamboat Springs City Council, reach out to me at Dylan@YampaValleyBugle.com