Short-term rental owners voice opposition to Steamboat Springs’ vacancy tax proposal
- Dylan Anderson
- Jun 16
- 5 min read
As proposed, the $3,100 vacancy tax would be paid by homeowners whose property sits vacant for 183 days a year or more.
Short-term rental owners voiced their opposition to Steamboat Springs City Council’s vacancy tax proposal during public comment last week, saying the potential $3,100 per year tax would be “devastating” for many STR owners.
Mark Walker, the president of Resort Group, which manages a significant number of STRs locally, walked through the various ways short-term rentals are supporting the community already, most notably through the 9% tax on nightly stays that generated more than $15 million in 2024.
“The short-term rental industry has been impacted enough,” Walker said. “Adding a potential, additional $3,100 vacancy tax to STRs would be devastating. I hope that isn’t not this Council’s intent.”
No ballot language has been finalized but Council is continuing to move forward with the proposal, which would need to be approved by voters this fall. As currently being discussed, the measure would require the owners of homes that are unoccupied for 183 days a year or more to pay a $3,100 per year vacancy tax. This would be enforced by requiring homeowners to fill out a tax return certifying how many days a home was occupied.
For people who live in Steamboat year-round, City Attorney Dan Foote says the tax return could be as simple as reporting that the home is your primary residence, without any additional documentation. For second homeowners that may use their home part of the year and rent it out part, tracking days could get trickier, though both would count as days occupied.
The concept is, if a home sits vacant it still receives city services, but there are no potential occupants in town to spend money and support the city’s sales tax — the primary source of general fund revenue. If approved, a vacancy tax as discussed would be the first of its kind in the country.
Walker argued the 183-day number was too high and that he wishes STR owners were able to find guests to stay in their places that man nights a year. He suggested council lower the threshold to 125 days or exempt STRs from the tax altogether.
“That’s the number that we all could deal with,” Walker said.
Foote said the 125-day number is an average; some units are rented more and some much less — even just a handful of days each year in some cases. Council members indicated they were open to discussion about lowering the number of days, though there wasn’t a clear majority supportive of the change on Tuesday.
“Having a second home, having an STR is a privilege,” said Council President Gail Garey, saying that there were other ways to incur occupied days. “Whether it’s non-profits, whether it’s the balloon festival, there are people who are looking for short-term housing. … I‘m struggling with reducing it to 125 days.”
City staff recommended that Council consider allowing sales taxes paid on STR stays to count toward the $3,100 per year vacancy tax cost. This could potentially lighten the burden on STRs that fail to reach 183 days of occupancy.
“We recommended that because it takes into consideration if someone rents 120 days versus 10 days,” said City Finance Director Kim Weber. “We recommended that as almost a compromise.”
Polling conducted about the vacancy tax proposal showed that 60% of Steamboat Springs voters surveyed said they would definitely or probably support the vacancy tax proposal. That number increased to 63% support after respondents were given more information about the tax proposal. the survey included 287 responses, with just over half of those being live phone interviews.
The poll put City Council's approval at 35%, an increase from a 27% approval rate in the city's community survey conducted last summer.
A majority of Council members agreed to move forward with the vacancy tax. The next step is likely the first reading of an ordinance to place a question on the November ballot.
Buccino, Muntean push for property tax
While Council agreed to move forward, talk of adding a property tax in Steamboat Springs surfaced once again. Council decided not to pursue a property tax this year at its retreat in December, opting instead to look at the vacancy tax and a potential lift tax.
Council member Michael Buccino said he did not support the vacancy tax, saying that he felt a property tax was a more equitable way to fund city services.
“There’s a point were we’re taxing the man behind the tree to the point where the man doesn’t come here anymore,” Buccino said. “That’s what I’m fearing.”
Council member Brian Swintek responded to say he was frustrated that is now Buccino’s opinion, months after they decided not to move forward with a property tax proposal.
“I spent 10 minutes actually actively yelling at all six of you about how we need to pursue a property tax and quite simply, there was no political will,” Swintek said. “The conversation was we’re not going to cut services, we need to raise more money and [a vacancy tax] was the most politically feasible way to raise funds.”
“I’m sorry, it may not be fair. But it is the most feasible way for use to raise funds to maintain the services we have now,” Swintek continued. “I’m very frustrated with my fellow councilors, because there is a lot of selective memory here about what happened in December.”
Council member Steve Muntean also voiced his support for a property tax.
“We need to convince this community that a property tax is the appropriate and most fair mechanism that we have in this community, and we need to lower our sales tax too,” Muntean said. “Take it off groceries, take it off utilities, and get rid of the regressive nature of it. … We’ve got to get this community aligned around a property tax.”
Swintek thanked Muntean for supporting a property tax, quipping that he was “seven months late.”
Council member Dakotah McGinlay said she feels the reason that Steamboat voters have long bristled at the concept of a property tax is because many of them could not afford the additional expense.
“Their property values have gone up exponentially in the past five, ten years. If you put a property tax on them, that would really hurt our locals,” McGinlay said. “Short-term rentals, vacant homes, unfortunately, these are the people that have some discretionary spending money. That’s the reality.”
