A Summit County program aimed at converting short-term rentals to long-term housing may shift its focus from property owners to local employers later this year. 

Since launching in 2021, Lease to Locals has provided grants to homeowners who convert their properties from short-term rentals to long-term rentals. The subsidies are meant to offer homeowners the ability to offer six- or 12-month leases below market rate while still generating revenue similar to what they would get if they short-term rented the property.

The initiative is funded by the county government and town of Breckenridge but was conceived by Placemate, a company that runs similar programs in resort areas in California, Idaho and Massachusetts. 

Now in its third year of operating in Summit, Placemate founder and Chief Executive Officer Colin Frolich said his organization is looking for ways to “make this model more sustainable, knowing that it can’t be a taxpayer-funded initiative forever.”

Between Oct. 2021 and Dec. 2023, the county government spent over $1.8 million to convert 87 short-term rental properties and create leases for 260 people in unincorporated parts of the county, according to Frolich. 

The final round of county funding was approved by commissioners this past fall and extended the program into 2024 in order to prevent existing tenants from being displaced. The program did, however, stop accepting new applicants and will sunset later this year once leases end. 

Frolich said the effort has been a successful short-term strategy for keeping local workers housed, especially in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. But if the program is to continue, officials must find a way to lift the bulk of the financial burden from the county. 

That’s where local employers may come in, said Frolich, who proposed using the grants to help businesses provide employee housing. 

A Placemate survey of business owners in December found that most would be in favor of paying to house their workers, such as through a master lease, which allows businesses to rent a unit that is then subleased to an employee. Survey results also showed that most employers want to rent smaller units, such as studios or one-bedroom units, to year-round employees. 

Stay connected to Summit County.

Sign up for daily or weekly newsletters at SummitDaily.com/newsletter

Most employers said they would spend up to $6,000 on each employee for yearly housing, meaning the county may still have to cover some of the costs to make it feasible. But based on estimates from Placemate, that would be a fraction of what the county was paying to convert short-term rentals. 

Estimates range from $65,000 to $195,000 per year based on how much of the cost sharing the county takes on. In order to incentivize employers to provide housing, the program would have to ensure businesses can generate some revenue with below-market-rate rents that could range from $1,900 for a studio to $3,600 for a three-bedroom.

While commissioners signaled they were in favor of developing the proposal, they also pointed to a number of questions that need to be answered ahead of a full rollout. Those include what to do in a situation where an employee who is also a tenant moves out early, damages a property, takes a new job or is fired by their employer. 

“I’d like to see this as a pilot. I don’t want to go too whole hog right away before some of this stuff gets settled,” Mamula said, adding that he wants to see guardrails for employers. 

Commissioner Nina Waters said she’s aware that some renters may have concerns about their employer being attached to their housing, adding, “I think there is opportunity there for maybe a mixture of different employers having employees in one unit.” 

Doing so could allow employees to change jobs with an employer who’s part of the program, meaning they don’t lose their housing under their old employer, Waters said.

Commissioner Tamara Pogue said she would like to see the program coupled with a bill being debated by the state legislature this session that would allow counties to provide property tax rebates. 

“I would like to build this program in conjunction with something related to that should we get this authority,” Pogue said, adding it would be a tool to provide relief for homeowners who are already renting to the workforce. 

“We have a lot of folks that are leasing already long term and should be recognized for that,” she said. “We have a lot of businesses that are doing the right thing here and should be recognized for that.”

The program’s framework will continue to be tuned throughout the year before being brought back to commissioners possibly by June. If approved, Frolich said it could launch by August.