Regarding the recent letter from a former mayor and town manager regarding short-term rentals: It is interesting to me that they want to “tax” short-term rentals and blame that business model for the lack of workforce housing. I see the situation differently. 

First, the town of Breckenridge lets timeshares be built without requiring any workforce housing (e.g., Grand Colorado). Secondly, the town of Breckenridge should have put the money for the fiber network towards workforce housing.

The town of Breckenridge has allocated $28 million to build a fiber network throughout the town. In my opinion, it will cost the town at least $2.8 million to maintain the fiber network annually. I believe today, they are about 70 percent complete with less than 200 subscribers (with the Town being the largest user of the network). I am aware of at least one expert warning the town that it was a waste of money. Imagine what the town of Breckenridge could have done for workforce housing with the $28M and continued maintenance costs in perpetuity on the fiber network.