By Robert Tann, The Summit Daily
Homes that sit empty throughout the year could be taxed by local governments in Colorado to help pay for affordable housing, under a new bill being proposed by state lawmakers.
House Bill 36 would allow county, city and town governments to ask voters whether to impose an excise or property tax — or both — on homes that the government deems vacant. The measure is sponsored by Reps. Elizabeth Velasco, D-Glenwood Springs, and Brianna Titone, D-Arvada.
The idea has been in the works for some time. Local governments had been pushing for a vacancy tax bill to be introduced during last year’s legislative session, but no legislation ever came forward.
“One of the issues that we have is that there’s not enough (housing) stock, but also, how I explain it to people, is that there is unlimited demand on our communities,” Velasco said. “People want to live there, people want to recreate there, but itap not affordable for people that are actually locals, that work there, that raise their families there.”
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