Seven CO Counties to Ask Voters to Increase Lodging Taxes to Pay for Services; Buell Featured

A recent article from The Colorado Sun, where the Buell Foundation is featured, explores how declining local government revenues have resulted in several Colorado counties turning to increased lodging taxes to fund essential services. This November, at least seven counties will ask voters to raise lodging taxes—some tripling them from 2% to 6%—under a new law, Senate Bill 1247, which allows counties to use lodging tax revenue for infrastructure, emergency services, housing, child care, and sustainable tourism.

Counties proposing increases include:

• Chaffee, Custer, Gilpin, Routt, and Park (tripling to 6%)
• Eagle (doubling to 4%)
• Ouray (introducing a 6% tax for the first time)

The bipartisan support for these measures reflects a growing need to fund services that benefit both residents and tourists. A previous law, House Bill 1117 (2022), expanded the use of lodging taxes beyond tourism marketing, requiring only 10% to be reserved for promotion, with the rest available for housing and child care.

Examples of impact:

• Eagle County’s 2022 lodging tax generates $3 million annually, supporting child care stipends and housing assistance.
• Chaffee County’s proposed increase could raise $3.5 million for roads and public safety.
• Gilpin County expects $340,000 annually for child care and roads.
• Custer County anticipates $170,000 for housing and child care.

Jason Callegari, Director of Initiatives, is interviewed and quoted in the piece:

A survey of 119 Eagle County child care workers this year showed the monthly stipends supporting more than 450 of the workers’ family members, with a majority of the respondents saying the extra money reduced stress, made them feel valued and they were more likely to remain working in early childhood education.

“Lodging taxes for early childhood education feels like an easy first step because you are taxing someone else, not yourself,” said Jason Callegari, the director of initiatives at the Buell Foundation, which has built an online toolkit for communities working to invest lodging taxes in early childhood education.

“We see this lodging tax question translating into larger conversations around what does Colorado want to be and how do we support families in livable communities,” Callegari said.