At the beginning of their Tuesday, March 2 regular meeting, Archuleta Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) — Republican commissioners Alvin Schaaf, Ronnie Maez and Warren Brown — listened to various public comments from people concerned about the proliferation of vacation rentals, and also from people concerned about the proliferation of vacation rental fees.
Following the public comments, the commissioners moved through their meeting agenda, dispensing with several clerical tasks before arriving at the agenda item of concern to most of the Zoom audience.
Consideration Of Resolution 2021-19 Approving The Archuleta County Fee Schedule
Pursuant to C.R.S. 30-11-108, the Board of County Commissioners are charged with establishing fees charged for county services. The 2021 fee schedule was adopted on February 16, 2021 with the exception of fees for Vacation Rental Permits. This resolution updates the Fee Schedule to include permit fees for Vacation Rental Permits.
A proposed increase in vacation rental annual fees had appeared on a previous meeting agenda but had been tabled for further study… as shown below.
Owner-occupied short-term rentals (STRs) would be paying $400 plus $100 per bedroom, per year. Non-owner-occupied rentals would pay $800 plus $100 per bedroom, per year, with even higher fees for subsequent non-owner-occupied units. The fees would fund various types of enforcement actions as well as staff inspections and record-keeping.
Here is how Commissioner Warren Brown summarized his own research into the issue on March 2.
“I have just a few thoughts on this… I’ve listened to a number of opinions on both sides of the issue, for an extended period of time. Lots of emails, phone calls, in-person visits. And on one hand, I heard that no fee adjustment is needed — that any increased costs will lead toward a down-trend in our local economy, and the indirect financial benefits from having a healthy [STR industry] means that the County is not losing funds. And part of this same point is that STR properties not in compliance are seen to the the genesis of the adjustment issue, and that these properties need to be brought into compliance.
“Another view… and I’ve just grouped these into three different [groups]… this is kind of how it’s made sense to me…
“The second group is that STRs are businesses, and as such, they should be taxed at a business rate. This [proposed] fee adjustment is a fee, not a tax — but I can see the point. And further, that people would continue to visit Archuleta County and Pagosa Springs even if the STRs were not readily available; they would use some other type of accommodation. And another part of this argument is, there’s a lack of consistency in STR compliance enforcement efforts, which has a negative impact on our community…
“And a third group that I’d like to share with everyone is:
“One, ‘We have a number of STRs in our neighborhood and we never have any issues with the STRs; you would never know they’re there…’ and
“Two, ‘The difficulties I’ve experienced with STRs have brought me to the brink of moving from my once-forever-home. Fees need to be increased substantially and timely and consistent enforcement is critical to preserving our neighborhoods.’
“So while there are different opinions about the fees, what has been clear to me and the consistent message is that the County needs to do a better job of bringing properties into compliance, for the benefit of all STR owners, their customers, and those who reside in Archuleta County. So that is kind of how I have grouped these three, over the month’s time…”
BOCC chair Alvin Schaaf commented, “We’re not trying to limit any STRs by raising the fee. We are just trying to make sure that we have the capability of enforcing and permitting these in a timely manner, and so far we haven’t had that.”
As we note from the comments by Commissioners Brown and Schaaf, there was — at this point in the meeting — no verbal recognition that the 1,000 or more vacation rentals now operating in our community — that is to say, perhaps 10 percent of all the available dwellings in Archuleta County — have now been converted from housing into tourist lodging.
I am estimating 10 percent because the 2017 Archuleta County Housing Needs Study identified 10,243 housing units in our community — and the AirDNA website identified, this week, 1,040 vacation rentals in the 81147 zip code.
If 10 percent of the homes in Archuleta County were destroyed by an earthquake or forest fire, our local governments would declare our community a disaster zone.
But when 10 percent get converted into motels, and are removed from the housing market, our County commissioners discuss options for collecting higher fees, and how to do a better job of making sure those fees are paid.
Commissioner Ronnie Maez, however, suggested that some of the excess fees collected — beyond the cost of registration, inspection, and enforcement — could be dedicated to a “workforce housing fund”.
Commissioner Brown:
“I think that we’re trying several different avenues to try and remedy a situation that may be impossible to remedy, as far as housing availability and affordability.”
There’s an interesting statement for us to chew on — any of us who may still hold out an ounce of hope for Pagosa Springs, as a viable place to work.
But as impossible as it may be to have a community with housing availability and affordability, Commissioner Brown moved to set the ‘owner-occupied’ fee at $400 per year, and the ‘non-owner-occupied’ fee at $700 per year, with “50% of any net overages from the STRs realized by the County be placed in a designated account, to be used used for workforce or qualified housing programs, through resolution of the Board of County Commissioners.”