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In Colorado, there was a bill that had been proposed recently that was formally voted on at the committee level has officially been shut down. This bill would increase property taxes on short-term rental properties in the state. At the hearing in which the vote was held, there was several hours of testimony from property owners of short-term rental properties. They spoke about the harm the tax increase would cause and ultimately swayed the vote to get the bill shut down.

The bill, which was Senate Bill 24-033, specifically would apply to properties leased for 90 days or more. The way in which the property tax would increase was not by directly raising the tax for these properties. Rather, the bill recategorized these properties and would require them to be classified as lodging properties, which have higher property taxes.

The tax rate for lodging properties is about twice that of the regular residential property rate.

Numerous short-term rental property owners who either rent out entire properties they own or rooms in their home testified against the bill. Some are retirees trying to maintain the ability to pay their bills, others do it as a side quest of our need. Either way they all said the same thing, that they are not on the same par as hotels and big corporations, therefore they should not be treated as such. Many people who would be affected by the tax increase made the decision to rent out a room to offset their mortgages. They are essentially small business owners who already pay a fair tax rate. After the testimonies of many, they were able to convince the committee voters to not pass the bill.

This is shockingly not the first attempt Colorado Senators have made to make such a law change.

In the last few years, including this attempt, the state Senate office has tried three times to pass a law that would increase the property taxes. When it came time to vote for this bill attempt, there was only one yes, and it was the man who had been the main sponsor of the bill in the first place, Senator Chris Hansen. Hansen has proposed an amendment to the bill after the first version was vetoed; however, his altered bill was also voted against.