Snowmass Town Council addresses limiting short-term rentals

Snowmass currently has 1,698 short-term rental permits, while 290 people sit on the town’s housing waiting list. 

The town discussed on Monday ways to change this ratio to favor the local workforce rather than those visiting for less than 31 days — the criteria of a short-term rental.

“To me, the goals should be to get back some of those long-term rentals that we had before COVID,” said Snowmass Town Council member Susan Marolt. 

Town staff said that would either mean incentivizing short-term rental owners to convert their properties to long-term rentals through payments from the town or disincentivizing through forms of taxation or fees.

“Incentivizing is going to be us writing a check,” Town Manager Clint Kinney said. “Disincentive is going to be a more economically viable way for the town.”

As it stands, the town has close to no restrictions on short-term rentals. They require renters to purchase a $300 short-term permit and a $85 business license once per year. 

The 1,698 short-term rental permits are split into four categories: independently-owned hotels, like the Limelight Snowmass and Viewline Resort Snowmass; individually-owned units overseen by a management program; condominiums managed by a property management company; and duplex properties or single family homes, according to Sara Nester, who oversees the town’s short-term rental program. 

Condominiums and single family-owned homes or duplexes are where the town would focus its energy in shifting short-term rentals to long-term rentals, according to Council member Tom Fridstein.

Together, those categories account for 569 short-term rental permits. Assistant Town Manager Greg LeBlanc cautioned conflating the amount of short-term rental permits with the town population itself — roughly 3,100 — as many of the permit holders might be primary residence elsewhere.

Town staff presented council with multiple options to disincentivize short-term rentals. The town could increase its lodging tax — or the amount visitors would have to pay the town when paying for accommodations — from its current rate of 2.4%. A change in the tax would need to go to the November ballot. 

It could impose a vacancy tax, taxing lodging that sits vacant for a certain portion of the year, many of which are used for short-term rentals. 

It could also impose short-term rental fees, apart from the existing requirement for owners to buy a permit and business license. 

“This could have two impacts: The STR fee can provide revenue to be used for subsidizing new housing, and (depending on the amount) make it less attractive to owners who, in turn, can choose to rent long-term to local households,” town staff stated to council in an agenda summary. 

In addition to short-term rental disincentivization, Snowmass Housing Director Betsy Crum referenced an incentivization model recently taken by Eagle County. The county made monthly payments to property owners who were renting their units as long-term rentals rather than short-term, accounting for the revenue difference. 

In general, owners can make more off short-term rentals, according to town staff. Eagle County recently ceased the model after three to four years due to the ongoing expense of the program.

Council agreed to discuss the item at a further meeting, directing staff to analyze the lodging tax policies of other communities in the valley and further explore ways to convert short-term rentals into long-term rentals for local employees.

Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.