Now pursuing at-large Council seat, West says housing is still Steamboat’s most urgent issue

Council member Joella West, who currently represents district two on council, said she intends to run for a two-year term as the At-Large council member.

Council member Joella West has served as President Pro Tem on council for the past two years. (Dylan Anderson/The Yampa Valley Bugle)

Council member Joella West says the most urgent issue for the city of Steamboat Springs remains affordable housing as she looks toward her campaign for reelection, this time for the at-large seat on council.

“It’s a problem we haven’t solved,” West said, mentioning the Council’s various efforts during the last four years to address the issue on a large scale with Brown Ranch and on a smaller scale thought the city’s ad-hoc housing committee. Brown Ranch’s next attempt is a larger question that West said could take a long time to fully understand.

“I have a crystal ball sitting on my office shelf, but it will not give me an answer on the future of Brown Ranch,” West joked. “What is the community thinking? Does the community want to go forward with a Brown Ranch project, and if so, what could that project look like? One thing we know, is we’re not going to be pulling out the illustrations from three years ago.”

West, who was first elected to Council in 2021 representing district two, said she intends to pursue the shorter, two-year at large term this time around. Council member Steve Muntean, who is currently the at-large council member, intends to run to represent district two. West said the two had discussed a switch.

“The two of us are absolutely good with the decision,” West said, adding that the potential for burnout was part of why she opted for the shorter term. “It’s a hard job and it isn’t just showing up at meetings.”

Fiscal stewardship has been a goal of council over the last four years, and that will likely continue as well. West said the last few months is the first time that she has consistently heard people talk about being willing to pay a property tax, which is something she is willing to look into. Still, the tax structure imposed by Colorado’s Taxpayers Bill of Rights makes it difficult.

“The fact that our commercial property owners pay tax at four times the rate of residential properties is awful,” West said, noting that she has a unique understanding to the disparity as a commercial property owner in town. “There is no way that we can legally carve out any kind of exception, any kind of refund. None of that, it’s just not legally possible. We’re trapped.”

West said she would like to see a larger movement beyond the city that makes the case to repeal TABOR at the state level, as she said it is currently “strangling all of these communities.”

“Then we could have a rational conversation about property taxes, but I would not advocate for a property tax in this town before we resolve that,” West said.

The city also cannot impose a real estate transfer tax either, which is part of why Council is bringing forward a vacancy tax proposal. The goal of that is to increase the city’s revenue to provide services with minimal impact on city residents.

“Many of our part time residents have come to us a complained bitterly about that and I understand that,” West said. “I also understand the reason why we are looking at that, and it has to do with city services. Will we proceed with it? Stay tuned, we’ll have to make those decisions soon.”

The city is also nearing a potential deal with Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp. to avoid a lift tax that would add to city coffers as well. West has been one of the city’s two negotiators in lift tax talks.

Another way to find revenue for the city could be inclusionary zoning, West said. The city used to have an inclusionary zoning policy, but it was paused during the Great Recession before being repealed. Next month Council will start talking about what a new policy could look like.

West said she thinks that creating the budget for next year will be a difficult conversation that could come with some noticeable cuts. While some residents feel the city needs to live within it’s current means, West said they consistently hear request for more services. If they have to make cuts, there are a lot of smaller things the city supports that could be reduced, West said.

“I totally understand the distaste for paying more money,” West said. “I think that ultimately, a property tax is the solution, but we are far, far away from being able to talk about it.”

Other issues West said she is talking about right now is the issue with short-term rental licensing that has arose in recent months, though she anticipated the current Council addressing that before the election.

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 on running for Steamboat Springs City Council, reach out to me at Dylan@YampaValleyBugle.com.