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Home My WebLink About2025-07-08 VLHA Agenda 2 3 Vail Local Housing Authority Minutes Tuesday, June 24, 2025 3:00 PM Virtually by Zoom ONLY PRESENT ABSENT Steve Lindstrom Craig Denton Dan Godec Christine Santucci Kristin Kenny Williams STAFF Jason Dietz, Director of Housing Martha Anderson, Senior Housing Coordinator Anna Bengtson, Housing Development Specialist Missy Johnson, Housing Coordinator 1. Call to Order (3:00pm) Call to order at 3:01 p.m. 2. Citizen Participation (5 min.) No comments. 3. Approval of Minutes (5 min.) 3.1 Approval of June 10, 2025 Meeting Minutes Presenter(s): Missy Johnson Time: 5 min. 2025-06-10 VLHA Meeting Minutes.pdf MOTION: Williams SECOND: Godec PASSED: 3 - 0 4. Main Agenda (10 min.) 4.1 Update on West Middle Creek Presenter(s): Anna Bengtson, Housing Development Specialist Time: 10 min. Bengtson provided updates including a recap of the project including an overview of the ground- breaking event and the excitement from the team and community. The construction update: primary focus includes installation of the water main along the Frontage Road and underground conditions as well as with clearing and grubbing of the site puts them ahead of schedule and ready for material delivery to site. Wall stabilization will continue into next week. Conversation ensued around action on the Frontage Road including the crane onsite and the planning for modular units on site at Timber Ridge Village on Monday, June 30th. Rockfall mitigation is on pause over the holiday and continuing after July 4th. Willams updated the group regarding the upcoming media event on Monday as a portion of the modular homes are placed. Twenty-five percent of the project remains available for contract. Godec is seeking additional financial information from the Town as to the funding that will come back to the Town. Based on the number of current contracts, how much of the funding is coming back to the Town after debts are paid off based on a 75% sell-out as of today. 4 5. Matters from the Chairman and Authority Members (5 min.) Dietz mentioned that Russ would like to meet with the VLHA regarding the survey from Magellen to talk about the strategy, results of the survey and to set expectations for what the VLHA can do around the STR initiative and community outreach. Williams inquires what VLHA members can do individually as a committee is formed. Williams provided a summary of an upcoming convening of community leadership which is being hosted by Habitat for Humanity as the facilitator. There will be representation from Town of Vail including Steve Lindstrom and the Town Mayor, Avon, Minturn, Eagle County, Town of Eagle, Vail Valley Foundation etc. to get another succinct overview of the recent Housing Needs Assessment. The engagement is intended to determine who we are trying to serve and what they want. Dietz mentioned next steps for Town of Vail Housing to work on a Housing Action Plan as a result of the Housing Needs Assessment to also be aligned with the Town Council Strategic plan. This is a requirement of the Housing Needs Assessment for each of the jurisdictions and will come up in July or August for feedback. RRC and EPS continue to be engaged consultants the Residential Linkage initiative and will be ongoing. Public outreach meetings will be scheduled in the future. 6. Executive Session (15 min.) Executive Session per C.R.S. §24-6-402(4)(a)(e) - to discuss the purchase, acquisition, lease, transfer or sale of real, personal or other property interests and to determine positions relative to matters that may be subject to negotiations regarding: Vail InDEED application. Williams moved to leave regular session and enter regular session at 3:17 p.m., seconded by Godec. MOTION: Williams SECOND: Godec PASSED: 3 - 0 7. Any Action as a Result of Executive Session (5 min.) The VLHA directed to staff to take next steps as discussed in Executive Session. 8. Adjournment 3:45 pm (estimate) Steve Lindstrom made a motion to Adjourn Meeting from Executive Session at 3:48 p.m. with a quorum present. 5 6 _________________________________________________________________________ Memorandum TO: Town Council FROM: Finance Department DATE: July 1, 2025 SUBJECT: STR Excise Tax Ballot Question Survey Results I. SUMMARY The Town contracted with Magellan Strategies, a voter survey research and campaign strategy consultant. Magellan surveyed Vail voters to gather opinions on a proposed STR tax, with the revenue restricted for housing programs, projects, and initiatives. Magellan also surveyed lodging condotels to get their feedback on the potential tax. This purpose of this presentation is to present survey results to Council and obtain Council feedback and input for th a potential ballot question for review at the July 15Council meeting. II. BACKGROUND In late 2024/early 2025, Council considered implementing an STR impact fee of $1,200 per bedroom for approximately 2,616 short-term rental properties within the Town of Vail. This fee was supported by a study performed byEPS and RRC which demonstrated that STRs drive increased demand for employees to support the spending generated by the STR bed base, thus raising the need for housing for those employees. However, after receiving feedback from the community, Council decided to instead pursue an STR excise tax, which was preferred based on public comments and feedback. III. DISCUSSION Included in your packet are the results from a recent survey of Vail voters regarding a potential Short-Term Rental excise tax. A total of 506 voters responded. While a general tax increase received mixed feedback, support for a dedicated STR excise tax was consistently strong. By the end of the survey 69% of respondents expressed support for implementing an STR excise tax. This represented strong, broad-based support across age groups, political affiliations, and both renters and homeowners across Vail. The survey tested a 6.0% excise tax rate, which aligns with what the previous $1,200 impact fee was estimated to generate. When compared to other peer communitiesa 6% tax rate is roughly in the middle. Estimated annual revenues from the proposed 6.0% tax are approximately $7.2 million. 45 Estimated Annual Tax Rate Revenue 2% 2,405,723 3% 3,608,585 5% 6,014,308 6% 7,217,169 8% 9,622,892 10% 12,028,616 In early April, staff researched the Aspen tiered STR tax model and presented challenges to Council. Staff recommended not pursuing a two-tiered STR tax structure due to numerous complex considerations. Outside of Aspen, there are no other communities with this structure. Staff’s main concerns are the administrative burden to taxpayers with monthly tax returns required for both sales tax and a new excise tax for each individual unit, as well as the potential loss in tax revenues due to reduced oversight of compliance and/or moving away from the current marketplace facilitator collection structure. This will be a significant change from the efficiency and high compliance rate of the current process of using marketplace platforms to remit taxes and will result in lower sales tax collections and overall tax compliance. The survey also included paraphrased ballot language to issue debt backed by the STR excise tax revenues. This would enable the Town to put those funds to work sooner on housing projects, such as the redevelopment of the East Vail parcel, rather than saving up funds over time or issuing additional Certificates of Participation, which may not be a near future possibility due to the limited collateral available. The benefits of adding approval for debt issuance to the ballot language include a potentially slightly better interest rate and dedicated revenues to support debt service costs. The most advantageous reason, however, would be that no leased property or collateral would be needed. Lastly, to gather input from the STR lodging community, staff also surveyed STR condotel properties and received 22 responses. This group expressed 70% opposition to the proposed tax increase. Results from the survey are also included in the packet materials. Next Steps With Council direction, staff will work with legal counsel to draft ballot language for Council’s th review at the July 15 meeting. Once the ballot language is introduced, the Town will not be able to place additional financial resources towards the ballot but can approve a support resolution later in the year. IV. ACTION REQUESTED FROM COUNCIL 1. Does Council support moving forward with placing an STR excise tax question on the November ballot? 2. If yes, what excise tax rate does Council wish to include in the ballot measure? 3. Would Council like to include voter authorization to issue debt backed by STR excise tax revenues as part of the ballot question? -2 - 46 ! 47 48 49 4: 51 52 53 54 55 56