In an effort to increase its affordable housing stock, the City of Grand Junction has put on this November’s ballot two proposals designed to raise building and construction funds.
One proposal calls for increasing the city’s lodging tax by 1%. The second question asks voters to approve a measure imposing an 8% short-term rental tax.
According to city officials, the lodging tax increase is expected to generate just over $1 million a year, with the short-term rental tax bringing in at least $325,000.
Studies have shown that increasing rents in the southwest Colorado city, now at more than $850 for a one-bedroom apartment, and the median listing home price at $415,000, is making it increasingly difficult for those earning a working wage to live in Grand Junction.
Mayor Anna Stout has given her support to the two proposals, remarking to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel that every day the city fails to put more affordable units on the market, are “days that people are sleeping in our parks or crashing on people’s couches or foregoing medicine or food to be able to pay for housing.”
The measures have sparked the opposition of several business groups, including the Horizon Drive Business District. That district comprises more than two thirds of the city’s hotels, with some hotel owners saying the proposals will hurt tourism.
Although voters in 2019 approved a measure doubling the lodging tax to its current 6%, a poll recently conducted by the Sentinel indicated that 32% were in favor of both the new lodging tax and short-term rental tax, while a little over 50% signaled their opposition.
By Garry Boulard
