A PLAN FOR Affordable Housing

• I propose a minimum 5% workforce housing tax on all vacation rental income - collected from the vacation rental guests.

  • These funds must be segregated from the general fund and can only be used by the County to purchase land for long term rentals or to purchase affordable/workforce housing.

  • Purchasers must stay in housing for a minimum of 5 years, and the infrastructure cost must be returned to the county, in order to perpetuate the program.

  • The County is then responsible for the construction of roads, and utility hookups, in a private/public co-op program.

  • These funds can also be used to purchase modular housing, or to provide materials for construction, in partnership with our local non-profit organizations.

• I propose that we take a serious look at vacation rental fees, and let's call them what they are - a tax. Let's treat them as such, vote on them - and reclaim the funds that are currently being wasted on unnecessary administration and use them for affordable housing instead.

• Based on rental receipts and current licensed rentals, I estimate that these two simple policies could easily generate $1.5 million annually in revenue to further support affordable housing.

• Full Disclosure: I am a rental operator in Archuleta County. I am sure that some of my fellow operators will not be fond of this, however - if we don't take action ourselves, there is a real risk that the state will step in and mandate such actions and collect the revenue for themselves - instead of keeping it in our community.

Let's get down to it:

Let's simplify rental codes, and use the funds from vacation rentals wisely - instead of overstaffing County offices, alienating our rental operators, and outsourcing the complaint desk.