Colorado short-term rental owners opposed to effort to quadruple their taxes plan to descend upon Capitol in protest
A survey of 2,500 short-term rental owners, commissioned by an advocacy group, showed that a majority would reduce their rental nights if Senate Bill 33 passes. The measure is likely to be heavily amended, however.
Hugh Carey/Colorado Sun
The fight over a bill that would quadruple property taxes for Colorado vacation homes rented for more than 90 days a year is about to get noisy.
Next week, hundreds of property owners and small business owners — many from mountain towns — are planning to visit the state Capitol to voice opposition to Senate Bill 33 that nonpartisan legislative staffers estimate would increase property taxes for 24,100 short-term rental homes in Colorado.
The legislation — sponsored by state Sen. Chris Hansen, a Denver Democrat, and aimed in part at easing the high-country housing shortage — would classify homes that are rented short-term for more than 90 nights a year as commercial lodging properties, which in 2023 were taxed at 27.9% compared with the 6.7% residential property tax rate.
The advocates will be bringing the results of a new survey of short-term property owners who say if the legislation passes they will either sell their homes or avoid the intention of the new law by reducing their rental nights to meet the legislation’s 90-day threshold. The survey, commissioned by the short-term rental advocacy group Colorado Lodging and Resort Alliance, warns that reducing short-term rentals would cost the state $1.36 billion in annual tourist spending.
Read more from Jason Blevins at ColoradoSun.com
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