Dear Editor:
Friends, Chaffee Countians, Citizens; Lend me your ears!!
We need to oppose Ballot Measure 1A. Chaffee County made a huge mistake asking voters for a lodging tax rate that is 295% higher than Aspen, 421% higher than Vail and 590% higher than Steamboat Springs. Our combined sales and lodging tax rate will be on par with New York City. Our 14+% tax rate will turn away visitors, hurt local businesses and workers and push away people considering investment or opening a business in Chaffee County. Now, you all can get mad at me for typing this, but, these are facts and math. Your feelings do not matter in math.
Moreover, it is a mistake to ask for one of the highest tax rates in the entire state without offering any new services or amenities. There is no budgetary room for new projects and needs our community will inevitably want as a result of being taxed. Maxing out tax rates makes future school funding harder, projects such as recreation centers impossible, and, will stretch our local businesses and their employees to their fiscal limits.
Proponents of this tax increase say it will just be “paid by tourists” but that isn’t how tourism-dependent economies work. Higher prices reduce demand, and our lodging community will have a choice to lower their prices or face lower demand. Lowering prices means fewer jobs. Reduced demand means less spending in the community. There is no free lunch in economics. Hotel pricing is very elastic. This proposal is simply taking money from a large swath of our local businesses and their employees and giving it to the government, which when I was in high school was called “Marxism”, which it is, actually.
Chaffee County in 2019 had 211 full-time employees and expenditures of $37.1 million. The county spent $75.3 million in 2024 and has grown to 261 full-time employees. That’s a 103% increase in spending and a 24% increase in staffing as our population grew only about 7% in those five years. More bad math.
We live in a time that is very difficult to run a business. Expenses in every category have risen significantly since the “COVPlague-19” and tariffs. Inflation has been rampant, and revenue is already down in many sectors. The high interest rates and economic uncertainty aren’t comforting at all, either. Asking for a 210% lodging tax increase in a dreadfully weak economy without benefiting the people? The tax is unfair and misplaced, at best; criminal at worst.
Hotels already pay the highest taxes of any businesses in the county. Hotels are the only businesses that pay sales tax, lodging tax, occupancy tax and commercial property tax. They are the lifeline that brings customers that directly support art galleries, restaurants, guiding companies and all the cool boutique stores in the area. Indirectly, visitors support builders, bankers, insurance companies, materials suppliers and visitor spending impacts everyone, even the government. We should be careful not to damage one of our only vibrant and vital industries.
People speak poorly about tourists. They are not taking into account the benefits we all receive from people who visit our communities, then, leave. Tourists shop, eat out, and spend money all around town. They are only here briefly and support many of our local services, such as schools, that they don’t even use. Towns of our size without tourism don’t have so many excellent restaurants, live music, artists, local stores and a well-funded government.
Chaffee County is a difficult place to make a living. For people who work locally, the economy is seasonal, and while the peak summer traffic may feel like a lot to handle for many of us, that traffic supports so many local families, small businesses, and workers who survive long winters thanks to visitors in peak seasons.
Some say this new tax will be the only way to get streets paved or provide basic services. However, in only a decade, Chaffee County’s spending tripled from $25M in 2015 to $75M last year. The roads still need repair. The county should do what all businesses do: spend wisely and be efficient. There is enough money in the budget to make the county work. In order to generate more revenue, the county should support the local entrepreneurs and businesses who host visitors, pay taxes, and employ workers, rather than tax the piss out of we who live here.
No one is asking the county to cut spending or to cut taxes. We are simply asking them to grow their budget alongside local businesses. Do not increase county spending at the expense of our local community. This tax hike could actually lower sales tax revenue by reducing demand in a wavering economy. This tax hike could even lower the county’s overall budget. There is a very real chance that the commissioners are stepping over a dollar to pick up a dime. This is a permanent move that could be a significant long-term mistake. Chaffee County commissioners finalized the ballot language in a single meeting without ever asking for input from the lodging or business community. No one knew it was happening. At the next public hearing, many hotel owners, business owners and employees came and asked for the county to delay the tax increase plan for a year, while we watch what other communities do and how visitors respond. A year delay will allow an open dialogue to determine the best path forward. The county commissioners denied that request.
There are only 8 out of 64 Colorado counties asking for the lodging tax increase. Only Chaffee County in the entire state asked for the increased county lodging tax to include municipalities. This means that Buena Vista, Poncha Springs and Salida will have this new enormous tax in addition to existing city sales taxes. For those of us inside the towns, we will be taxed twice for roads and services. Ballot 1A will be the most aggressive tax increase on any ballot in Colorado in November. We need to defeat it, as the math is just no good for our county, town, or citizenry.
Hotel owners may support a common-sense increase in the county lodging tax. There should be public discussions about what the rates should be, where they should be applied, and what the increased tax revenue would fund. REJECT 1A, and, there could be an opportunity to start a democratic process and include the stakeholders, without handing over a blank check to the government. With a delay, we could see how the tripling of local lodging taxes impacts other tourist dependent communities. There are risks by “going first”. We risk getting it wrong and setting up a permanent tax that could forever injure our economy. We need open dialogue and transparency, so we can work together as a community to be sure we are treating everyone fairly and getting this right. Let’s not make Buena Vista the “Well, THAT didn’t work” mountain town we all love.
Respectfully yours,
Brian Edward O’Connell
Buena Vista, CO.
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