The 2025 Legislative Season is underway and along with it comes a fresh round of proposals that could impact the Colorado vacation rental industry. As we prepare for a busy spring session, SAVRM will rely on the support of our members to cover expenses related to lobbying and advocacy work. Stay connected with us by keeping your membership current this year.
This proposed bill is being promoted by Colorado Municipal League, aiming to tax homes that sit empty more than a certain portion of the year.
SAVRM's Position on the Vacant Home Tax
We are opposed to this legislation that would tax homeowners in jurisdictions where there also exist ordinances restricting occupancy. There are ordinances established in several counties that place a restriction on number of reservations, or number of nights rented for vacation rentals. Because of these restrictions, we think it would be unfair to also tax those homeowners for their home sitting empty as a result of local caps on reservations.
The excise tax proposal would allow municipalities the ability to pose a ballot initiative to implement new excise taxes, through popular vote. This excise tax is not defined, but could be levied against virtually any industry - vacation rentals included.
SAVRM's Position on the Excise Tax
We are opposed to this bill as currently drafted. While this bill has not been introduced, we plan to stay in close contact with its sponsors if and when it does become assigned to a committee. The current draft of this bill does not include a cap on the amount that the excise tax could be, nor does it clearly define what the excise tax could be used for.
In the 2024 legislative session, a bill was passed allowing counties the ability to utilize the current 2% lodging tax for things other than just tourism related marketing. That bill allowed counties to also use their 2% lodging tax for local needs such as childcare, affordable housing initiatives, and infrastructure such as road maintenance or public safety.
This new proposal would allow an increase of up to 6% lodging tax for those counties and statutory towns, while preserving the ability for the counties to utilize lodging tax funds as permitted under last year’s legislation.
SAVRM’s Position on the Lodging Tax Increase
We are opposed to this bill as currently written. It has been stated frequently by lawmakers that affordable housing has been impacted by vacation rental use. SAVRM would request that this proposed bill be rewritten in such a way that the additional 4% lodging tax collected would be required to be utilized for affordable housing programs and tourism marketing. We are not proposing a specific amount of that 4% to be allocated to either category, but feel that we would be able to support this bill if the monies collected by the new lodging tax were utilized for affordable housing and tourism marketing. We would be opposed to this bill if it were to proceed without an amendment to focus the funding towards affordable housing and tourism marketing.
We will continue to monitor these proposals and ensure that our members have access to opportunities for public comment and engagement with lawmakers as these bills evolve. Verify your membership is current to ensure you have the most up to date information. Contact us or head to the membership page of this website to join SAVRM today!
