Colorado resort communities want to impose a vacancy tax on unoccupied homes

consortium of mountain towns will push Colorado lawmakers this year to pass legislation that would enable local governments to ask voters to tax homes that sit empty for most of the year. 

There are no communities in Colorado that tax empty homes, but the growing challenge of building affordable housing for workers in mountain communities where real estate prices are soaring and as many as 40% of homes are unoccupied by full-time residents is fueling creative thinking around new revenue sources. 

“We are not asking the legislature to make it so. This just clears some potential land mines for communities who might want to do this,” said Jonathan Godes, a councilman in Glenwood Springs and president of the Colorado Association of Ski Towns, or CAST, which is promoting the legislation for the coming session. 

CAST is asking its 28 resort town members to support a bold legislative agenda this year. The group also is hoping for lawmakers to approve legislation that will enable local governments to approve fees on every real estate transaction. 

(There are 12 Western Slopes communities that have real estate transfer taxes — from 1% to 3% on all property transactions — that were established before passage of the 1992 Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR, which prevents new taxes without voters approval. Those communities — Aspen, Avon, Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Frisco, Gypsum, Snowmass Village, Telluride, Vail and Winter Park — are collecting record revenues in recent years as home prices soar.)

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