Residents’ feedback and results from a public opinion polling firm demonstrating a lack of strong support led Frisco Town Council to oppose introducing a tax-hike ballot initiative geared toward covering ongoing expenses and capital projects.

A discussion at a May 13 Frisco Town Council meeting on how to expedite capital projects in the town’s 10-year plan — and prioritize underfunded capital projects that currently aren’t on the 10-year plan — prompted officials to direct staff to gauge community support for a potential .5% sales or a 4% lodging tax increase.

Town staff members estimated that a .5% sales tax increase could generate an additional $1.7 million in annual revenue, and a 4% lodging tax could generate an additional $1.6 million in annual revenue. Projects under consideration include those for town facility improvements, traffic management, wildfire mitigation, bridge replacements and more. 

At a Tuesday, July 22, Town Council work session, officials received results from survey company Magellan Strategies, which the town hired to gauge community sentiment regarding the potential tax initiative.

The report showed around 77% of people polled believed the town has adequate financial resources to provide an acceptable level of services and programs. Around 33% of respondents said they would generally support a tax increase of some sort to fund capital projects. 

Magellan Strategies carried out the survey, which secured 333 responses. Magellan Strategies director of data analysis Ryan Winger described it as a “pretty strong sample size.” 

In response to a survey question asking “would you support or oppose a tax increase to create a dedicated funding source for capital projects in the town of Frisco,” 58% of respondents showed opposition, 33% showed support and 9% were indifferent. The question did not ask about a specific type of tax being increased. The survey also demonstrated 72% of respondents approved of the job the town is doing to provide existing services and programs. 

“I’ve heard from maybe about 10 people in town all very opposed to raising taxes at this time, after property taxes, after the political climate and just where we’re at. … I haven’t heard anybody say, ‘raise my taxes’,” council member Andy Held said. 

Other council members shared that they also heard this sentiment from constituents, but they acknowledged residents want to see wildfire mitigation projects. The survey showed 79% of respondents supported funding for the “Frisco’s Backyard” project, which is aimed at reducing wildfire risk and protecting recreation areas. 

Council members discussed whether a tax would dissuade visitors, contemplating how much stock potential tourists put into the sales and lodging taxes of the area they are looking to visit. Council member Martin Allen said while some might not do research on taxes before booking a trip, they’ll notice their impacts when they look back at the total cost of their trip in terms of the taxes they had to pay for lodging or anything they might have bought on the trip. He said he was worried about it having adverse impacts on local businesses.

Frisco communications director Vanessa Agee said the town already has a “significant” lodging tax, noting it is higher than some of the other Summit County municipalities. According to Frisco’s website, it has a 10.725% total tax on traditional lodging options like hotels, and a 15.725% total tax on vacation home rentals. 

Council members Held, Allen, Zach Ryan and Elizabeth Skrzypczak-Adrian opposed the tax hike. Council member Robyn Goldstein was on the fence, recognizing the need for some of the projects proposed, particularly the wildfire mitigation. 

Many officials expressed worry over the uncertainty surrounding federal funding to carry out mitigation projects with the U.S. Forest Service, especially because district ranger Adam Bianchi will be leaving his position. Officials dubbed Bianchi as a key advocate in securing funding to help actualize projects important to U.S. Forest Service land. 

Town staff members noted how Bianchi previously said Frisco should not foot the bill for a project on forest service land because the town ultimately isn’t the landowner. Held said the project is still important to the surrounding areas and that council members could take on an advocacy role in encouraging the federal government to put funding toward wildfire mitigation projects. He recommended getting more buy-in from surrounding partners, like Denver Water, who are also impacted by the possibility of wildfire in the area. 

Ryan recommended the council continue to brainstorm ideas on how to create funding for projects and think about how to advocate for and make the wildfire mitigation projects happen. 

Council member Dan Kibbie and Mayor Rick Ihnken were absent.