Dipping toes into the second home tax pool

In the déjà vu all over again category, discussion over a second home tax in Crested Butte is raising many of the same concerns as five years ago. The seven-member town council all have their toes dipped in the vacant home tax pool to test the waters. The immediate primary apprehension at this point is emotional and that’s fair. I agree with the need to talk deeply about the potential “divisiveness” of such a tax and I’m nowhere near jumping into the pool yet. 

But there are also some big differences this go around, particularly when it comes to the breadth of discussion, the effort for a less agro stance by the town to pass the tax and starting the discussion earlier to vet the concerns and inevitable blowback.

Monday’s discussion echoed many of the same discussion points from 2021 when CB voters handily rejected the proposed $2,500 annual tax on vacant homes. Those who own second homes don’t like being singled out to pay more tax. As town grows and people want more amenities, costs rise so more revenue is needed — but the lack of a specific project or even a defined funnel for a general category such as housing or parks is an early detriment. That will hopefully come soon—otherwise good luck with just raising taxes to do more of the same which, from what I gather, people generally see as spending big money on more plans, more housing and more climate mitigation.

We all feel the changes, economic and social, in the North Valley and Crested Butte. Workers can no longer comfortably buy even a free-market fixer upper condo in town. The wealth gap is seeping in even here to this bubble. A decade ago (and certainly before that) part of our identity was that economic diversity with social equity was a hallmark of CB. Yeah, there has always been some tensions and little pokes here and there, but all of us—locals, second homeowners, tourists—mingled together in the bars, at community music events like Alpenglow, in the lift lines, along the trails and at après everything on the patio of the Brick. There is a lot less of that these days.

Billionaire Mark Walter has every right to not call me and share his vision of Crested Butte as he buys up much of the property in town and the valley. But that comes across as new-school thinking where there’s no need to mingle with the locals, the commoners. It certainly appears many of his projects will look great and spruce up Elk Avenue and the valley – but will the locals be able to afford to eat in a really cool restaurant with a million-dollar staircase? I don’t know (Mark won’t call me) but I doubt it. To me that indicates new-school second home ownership thinking and why such a tax has a better chance to pass this year more than in 2021.

But I recommend the council understand and take in a point of view expressed Monday that not all second homeowners and properties are the same. The ones arriving now that pay $5 million+ for a house in town and look forward to $250 Wagyu steaks are frankly different from the ones who came here and bought an old mining shack 20 years ago to be able to enjoy CB and share a happy hour beer with the locals. The new ones won’t feel a $2,500 or even a $7,500 annual tax, but many of the old-schoolers will. The council must be careful to craft something that doesn’t make them partly responsible for speeding up the loss of some of the good, old-school attributes unique to CB.

I have to say that one thing that raised my eyebrow Monday was the council shrug to go ahead and spend an already budgeted $30,000 to poll local voters on the idea of the tax. While $30k isn’t real money in government terms, hiring an outside consultant to poll voters and set up strategy to get a tax passed seems the default government position these days. The county is doing it with their road and bridge tax effort, and it’s been done by the school district, the RTA and the fire department. It apparently works, but I’d suggest the seven councilmembers get out and do their own polling. Keep it old-school.

I appreciate the effort of the council and staff to look at other taxing alternatives including a sliding sales tax that could be higher during peak tourism months. While a bit more complicated than an excise tax, it is worth seriously considering. I appreciate the public outreach effort being made on the issue. While a few people on the council and in town hall look like they are ready to dive into the deep end of a second home tax, the water still feels cold as councilmembers dip their toes into the the pool. There is a lot of work to do before plunging headfirst into the deep end.

—Mark Reaman