With an eye toward next year\u2019s Sundance Film Festival in Boulder, Erie officials are asking voters whether they would support establishing a new local lodging tax\u00a0for the town in November\u2019s election.<\/p>\n
The potential lodging tax would impact visitors at any future hotels and at short-term rentals \u2014 stays of less than 30 days at a time \u2014 in the town. Erie does not currently have a hotel, but a plan\u00a0for new development in the Town Center area off Erie Parkway and County Line Road has included space intended for one.<\/p>\n
Before finalizing\u00a0what the ballot measure would look like, including the tax amount proposed, town officials will gather feedback from Erie voters through a survey to \u201cbetter understand community priorities, concerns, and gauge overall support for a potential lodging tax,\u201d an announcement says.<\/p>\n
The 15-question survey<\/a> asks residents to indicate their familiarity \u201cwith how local government is funded,\u201d and \u201cwhat amount of lodging tax feels right for Erie,\u201d among other things.\n<\/p>\n \u201cWe encourage all Erie voters to take a few minutes to complete this survey and share your thoughts,\u201d the town\u2019s announcement says, adding that \u201cdozens\u201d of voters already took the survey at the Erie Town Fair over the weekend.<\/p>\n Erie spokesperson Gabi Rae has said town officials believe a lodging tax could be \u201ca pretty simple one to explain and pass with the voters since it is for a hotel that does not yet exist and would tax visitors in the hotel and not residents (unless they stayed in the hotel for some reason).\u201d<\/p>\n In February, Rae said the town would consider a lodging tax for hotels, not including short-term rentals. But that has since changed, she told the Daily Camera this week, \u201cbecause after doing research, we found that a State statute requires that a Lodging Tax apply to any visitor stays that are 30-days or less. Regardless of what kind of stay.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHotels, short-term rentals \u2014 they are all covered by a Lodging Tax by definition,\u201d Rae said in an email. \u201cWhile we intended to just do a hotel-related tax first and consider a short-term rental tax later, that isn\u2019t actually possible.\u201d<\/p>\n On May 5, the Town Council gave staff a green light to move forward with the survey and education about the possible lodging tax measure. The council will in \u201clate summer\u201d determine whether or not to add the tax measure to the ballot, Rae said.<\/p>\n The Sundance \u2018influx\u2019<\/p>\n The Sundance Film Festival will come to Boulder County in January and with it, tens of thousands are expected to descend upon the area. For some Boulder County residents, renting out their home<\/a> for the days of the event means they could potentially earn a few hundred dollars to more than $1,500 per night.\n<\/p>\n Separate from the potential lodging tax ballot item, Erie officials also expect to consider an ordinance to regulate short-term rentals, according to Rae.<\/p>\n \u201cThe (town\u2019s municipal code) does not currently address this issue. We hope to have the draft ordinance to Planning Commission and Council by late summer. We know we need to have some sort of parameters in place with the influx we expect to see,\u201d Rae told the Camera in April.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Nearby communities including Longmont<\/a> and Louisville<\/a> have also seen their leadership discuss rules around short-term rentals \u2014 the kind that are typically listed on platforms like Vrbo and Airbnb \u2014 regarding the festival.<\/p>\n More on the Erie ballot<\/p>\n The general election is scheduled for Nov. 3. Erie officials are also considering a separate 2026 ballot item<\/a> that would ask voters to approve a tax measure to pay for updates to the current Erie Community Center at 450 Powers St.\n<\/p>\n A survey that went out earlier this year showed \u201cvery strong support\u201d for that potential measure, Rae said, and the town will \u201ccontinue with outreach about it until the Council can approve ballot language later in the summer.\u201d<\/p>\n