SAVRM

04/01/2025

Update on HB1247 - County Lodging Tax Expansion

The bill was slated to be heard on the Senate Floor today, but has been pushed out to this Friday, April 4th.

This will be second reading of the bill, which does not allow public testimony options. But, we still encourage you to reach out to your Senators to share your comments regarding the bill.

Monitor HB1247 at the link below so you can keep an eye on the progress: https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb25-1247

We'll be sure to keep you updated here, too!

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03/25/2025

URGENT UPDATE: HB1247 has been moved up one week early and will now be in committee TOMORROW, March 26th.

This change happened to the schedule at 5pm yesterday and SAVRM found out through our connections at the Capitol - thankfully - today.

If you are able to testify, please do so!

If you are not able to attend the hearing due to scheduling conflicts, you can also opt to send an email to the committee members with your comments via the same registration link.

Click below to sign up for your preferred public testimony option: zoom, in person or by sending written remarks.

https://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2025A/commsumm.nsf/NewSignIn.xsp

03/20/2025

HB25-1247, the county lodging tax bill, has been assigned to the Senate Local Government & Housing committee on April 2nd.

It's time to start reaching out to committee members! Emails are a great option to reach out to folks if you would like to advocate for changes to this bill. Get the list of committee members at the link below and let's get to work!

The Senate Local Government Committee generally considers matters concerning local governments, special districts, housing, land use planning. In addition, the committee has legislative oversight responsibility for the Department of Local Affairs.

03/10/2025

Good Morning All:
HB25-1247, the lodging tax expansion bill, is set for third reading today. We will be monitoring the hearing and will share the outcomes here. If you would like to listen in, click the link below for the audio from the House floor.

Meeting on the House Floor

03/08/2025

Howdy everyone. Good news and bad news coming your way from the Capitol. I'll start with the GOOD!

HB1247, the county lodging tax expansion bill, has undergone TWO really great amendments:

1. The maximum amount allowed for the tax has been lowered to 5% (it was initially proposed at 6%).

2. Two of the four allowed new/additional uses have been eliminated - the museums and the wildlife funding options. This change leaves public infrastructure and public safety items on the list of new allowed uses for the tax, in addition to the already existing uses of tourism marketing and workforce housing & childcare.

Now the other news... Not necessarily bad, but not necessarily great: The bill passed the second reading in the House today. It will move on to third reading early next week (likely either Monday or Tuesday, yet TBD).

If the bill passes third reading in the House, it will then go on to the Senate for committee hearings where it could be amended again. We will advocate for another reduction on the percentage (aiming for 4%) and will also advocate for narrowing the scope of the ways the funds can be used.

Once the bill exits the Senate committee, it will then go on to the Senate floor.

And then, after that, it would go to the Governor for signing once all of the other hurdles have been crossed.

I'll be back with opportunities for engagement so you'll know when the next round of public testimony is coming. I will also be sure to share email options for those who want to send a written comment but may not be able to provide video or in person testimony.

Help us help you - and your guests! Continue to stay engaged on this bill and if you aren't already a member... please join SAVRM so I can keep doing this work on your behalf. Homeowners join for just $100 per year - a pretty fantastic deal for hiring your own lobbyist.

Have a great weekend!

Join SAVRM here:

The Summit Alliance of Vacation Rental Managers strives to ensure all industry members and partners can find a place within our organization. Below you will see the various membership options offered. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you would like assistance determining which is the right f...

03/04/2025

Hello everyone! The legislative hearing of the House Transportation, Housing and Local Government committee is under way as of 1:30pm MT.

This committee will be reviewing HB25-1247, the Lodging Tax Expansion bill, which we informed members about in February. This bill would allow counties the opportunity to propose an increased lodging tax up to a maximum of 6% to be used for a variety of infrastructure needs.

SAVRM is opposing this bill as currently written. Head to our website savrm.org and check out our News pages for more information on this bill and our official position statement.

Click the link below to listen in to the audio. If you registered to provide public comment, you should have received an email from LCS Committees that would have your personal zoom link access. Only those who have officially registered to provide comment are allowed access via zoom.

We are monitoring this hearing and will share updates as we have them today.

https://sg001-harmony.sliq.net/00327/Harmony/en/View/UpcomingEvents/20250304/12

02/28/2025

Happy Friday, everyone! Quick alert here: HB25-1247, the county lodging tax bill, has been RESCHEDULED to TUESDAY, MARCH 4th at 1:30pm.

It was previously scheduled for Wednesday next week... but they moved it up one day early.

Take a look at the bill, here, including info on the committee hearing (at the bottom of the page):
https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb25-1247

I'll drop the registration link in the comments if you'd like to email in a written comment or if you would be interested in attending via zoom or in person.

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02/14/2025

Representatives Katie Stewart (D, District 59) and Karen McCormick (D, District 11) along with Senators Dylan Roberts (D, District 8) and Cleave Simpson (R, District 6) presented the County Lodging Tax Expansion bill on February 12, 2025 in an effort to give counties the ability to expand their current lodging tax from 2% up to 6%.

In addition to this expansion, which would be subject to ballot initiative and voter approval, the bill increases the options for methods to utilize the funds collected under the lodging tax.

SAVRM and CLARA are opposing the bill as currently written. Check out our blog post for the details:

February 13, 2025 Representatives Katie Stewart (D, District 59 - Archuleta, La Plata, Montezuma and San Juan Counties) and Karen McCormick (D, District 11 - Boulder County) along with Senators Dylan Roberts (D, District 8 - Clear Creek, Eagle, Garfield, Gilpin, Grand, Jackson, Moffatt, Rio Blanco,

02/03/2025

SAVRM’s “How to Talk to Lawmakers” event is today at Noon MT! If you forgot to register, there’s still time. Use the link below to sign up now. If you can’t make it in person – don’t worry. We’ll send the recording link out to everyone who registers.

Register now on this zoom link:

Join SAVRM and our partners at Expedia’s Government Affairs office to get up to speed on how to communicate successfully with lawmakers. As we head into the busy legislative session ahead, this is one workshop you will not want to miss. Register now to save your seat for this event on February 5th...

01/07/2025

From our friends at the Breckenridge Tourism Office for anyone who is interested:

Free Event for Breckenridge Businesses: Building International Business
Tuesday, January 14, 9:00-11:00am

We are pleased to announce that the Colorado Tourism Office and Breckenridge Tourism Office are partnering with BrandUSA and Tourism Exchange USA on an ambitious new program designed to expand tourism businesses’ international and domestic online bookings and digital product distribution with no upfront costs.

This program will provide unique value for Breckenridge businesses interested in building their international business by:
*Increasing online distribution of your products and services
*Making your products and services bookable online
*Growing your visibility and bookings with international travel trade and tour partners
*Finding new ways to benefit from destination marketing campaigns

Tourism Exchange USA is a B2B digital marketplace that connects inventory and availability from your business with a diverse marketplace of international OTAs, travel distributors and buyers. The purpose of this program is to help businesses increase their distribution and online visibility internationally. It will also help offline businesses with making inventory bookable online for the first time. This event is free to attend and will be held in Breckenridge.

Register Here:

Date: January 14, 2025 Time: 9:00am - 11:00am Event Location: Breckenridge Tourism Office, 130 Ski Hill Road, Ste. 140, Breckenridge (Breckenridge Professional Building, located on first floor behind U.S. Bank) Contact: [email protected] Join the Colorado Tourism Office for an e...

12/17/2024

LAST CHANCE! Register NOW for the SAVRM State of the Vacation Rental Industry webinar, today at 1pm MT!

Hear from industry experts on trends, KPIs, what to expect from the Colorado legislature this year, and the first ever State of the Industry Report presented by SAVRM.

Here's the link to save your seat! We will send out the recording afterwards to all attendees, too - so if you can't join us live, make sure to register at least so you'll get the replay!

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_1gs_MNJkQmif_XHGk6PzZg

12/13/2024

It's time to get registered for SAVRM's State of the Industry webinar!

Join us on Tuesday, December 17th at 1:00pm MT for this one hour event you do not want to miss. We'll have industry experts to weigh in as panelists from the Breckenridge Tourism Office, Key Data, Expedia Government Affairs, a Trends Expert from VRBO and our Executive Director, Julie, will be sharing highlights from our massive State of the Industry Report - a first in its kind for Summit County, taking a look at transformative data to help shape the future of vacation rentals in our community.

Hit the link below to register today! Space is limited!

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_1gs_MNJkQmif_XHGk6PzZg