A proposed ballot initiative for 2023 would impose a fee on all real estate deals to fund affordable housing
sales tax
Posted inBusiness
Colorado communities are harvesting record real estate transfer taxes. But they are not banking on the boom.
The 12 Colorado communities that approved real estate transfer taxes before TABOR in 1992 saw an 84% surge in revenues in 2020 and 2021 compared to 2018 and 2019
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Tax rebates are coming. Everyone should get the same amount
Though many people continue to struggle to make ends meet, and the cost of living in Colorado continues to rise, by any typical measure Colorado’s economy is booming. On average, incomes are rising, jobs are returning —and, in turn, the state is collecting more tax revenue than it’s allowed by the state Constitution to keep […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Economy, Environment, News, Outdoors
Glenwood Springs is still dealing with the effects of a long I-70 closure this summer. Federal aid is a lifeline.
After a year marred by disease and wildfire, Defiance Rafting just east of Glenwood Springs was having a gangbuster whitewater season this summer — so much so that owner Gregory Cowan planned to replace the 26 rafts that came with the business when he bought it three years ago. But the mudslides that closed Interstate […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, Economy, News, Outdoors
Colorado mountain, resort communities are rebounding — and then some — from coronavirus-scarred 2020
John Norton, Gunnison County’s tourism czar, was talking to his board last April. The ski resort had closed abruptly. Lodging and restaurants were closed. Visitors were being told to leave. The pandemic was triggering a panic in tourist-based economies across the country. A board member asked how much the Gunnison River Valley tourism community could […]
Posted inEconomy, News, Transportation
Longmont may still get its long-promised RTD rail line. But it may need help from Amtrak.
Regional Transportation District officials say they will refocus on building the long-awaited Northwest Rail Line, after goading from Gov. Jared Polis and some members of the agency’s board of directors Tuesday night. RTD planners told the board during a virtual work session that any move to fully extend the 38-mile corridor, also known as the […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors, Outsider
A busy summer is pulling Colorado’s resort communities out of the coronavirus downturn. But will it last?
High-country resort communities that rely on spending from visitors are seeing a rebound in sales tax collections in June and July, but it’s not likely the crowds will be enough to erase losses in March and April. The declines in March and April were devastating, with most ski-resort anchored communities enduring 50% drops in sales […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Politics and Government
A coronavirus shift to online shopping has helped save some retail sales — and tax revenue — in Colorado
When Erika Righter saw foot traffic at Hope Tank vanish in March as coronavirus safety measures went into place, she temporarily closed her Broadway gift store and reopened online. “Thank God for online,” said Righter, who opened the Denver store in 2012. “I launched an online shop, which I wish I had done years ago.” […]
Posted inNews, Politics and Government, Transportation
Polling shows support for a tax hike to pay for a Front Range passenger train. But the devil is in the details.
Polling released last week by the state shows that Colorado voters along the Front Range generally favor raising sales taxes to pay for a passenger train running from Fort Collins to Pueblo. But that’s just part of the story. What the survey didn’t test was by exactly how much voters would be willing to raise […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors
Snowy winter boosts Colorado ski towns to record-breaking sales tax revenues
It was yet another banner year for Colorado’s resort communities, with at least five ski towns boasting record sales tax revenue for the 2018-19 ski season A tally of taxable sales from December through March for Aspen, Breckenridge, Vail, Winter Park and Telluride reveals record spending in the towns. While skier visits to Colorado’s resorts […]