“We’d have to move to another town.”
That’s the common, sad response I hear when I ask Pagosa neighbors “What would you do if you had to find a place to live in Pagosa on your salary alone next month?”
I ask you to give that question some heartfelt thought. The more thought you give, the sadder it gets.
And families with children are leaving. With rents for simple apartments doubling over the past six years and leases for family homes nearly tripling, is there really a better option, especially for young families facing $2500 rents, than leaving Pagosa?
Everyone’s concerned. Okay, but passive concern is a problem, not a solution. Without serious investment in workforce housing there are no options for working families that make our tourism economy — and our community — possible.
Town government at every level is at least making an intelligent, good faith effort, but $1500 converted motel rooms and $1600 micro apartments for singles/couples is the best the Town can manage without a dedicated funding source.
The County’s best new policy is to allow full-time living in RVs. I’m not joking. Millions for prisons and new County offices… but RVs for the working families paying for their construction. On workforce housing right now, the County is an episode of Reno 911!
Thankfully, Town voters can make a decisive and decent choice by passing Ballot Measure A on April 5.
The Workforce Housing Fee is fair and modest. The equivalent of a 7% tax. A little more than one night’s rental per month of a short-term rental bedroom. And the folks paying the fee — mostly non-resident investors — already enjoy a massive 75% property tax loophole that no other commercial property in Pagosa benefits from.
Why should a business model which evicts working families and creates mini-motels in our neighborhoods receive this exclusive 75% tax break? Not even STR advocates can offer a commonsense argument.
The choice is stark. Do we want a future Town which is family friendly or an upside down town where tourists vacation in the houses while evicted families live in converted 330 square foot motel rooms charging $1500 per month or in recreation vehicles through the winter?
I hope Town voters choose wisely — and decently — and require non-resident STR owners to pay a fair Workforce Housing Fee to fix a problem they have turned into a crisis.
For those STR owners who object to paying this modest fee to help house working families they have evicted, there is an obvious reply:
“Move to another town.”