Park County commissioners approve lodging-tax resolution to send 6% short-term rental question to voters

Park County commissioners voted 3-0 on Aug. 13 to approve a lodging-tax resolution that will place a proposed 6% short-term rental lodging tax before voters in November. The board set a 10-year sunset on the tax and a distribution formula that would allocate 58% to public works, 25% to the sheriff’s office, 7% to emergency services and the statutorily required 10% to the county’s tourism board.

The move follows work-session discussions this summer. Commissioner Mitchell said he and Commissioner Gimmer “came to the compromise of the percentages for the 6% short term rental tax” and summarized the plan: “58% of that tax goes to public works for road and bridge maintenance and other work that they need to do. 25% go to the sheriff's office, 7% to ES counsel, and the required 10% by statute to tourism.”

Why it matters: the tax would apply only to unincorporated Park County; the two incorporated towns in the county retain their own lodging-tax authority. Commissioners said the proposal is an amendment to the lodging-tax measure voters approved in 2023: that earlier 2% tax began collections in 2024 and produced roughly $460,000 in the first year, a figure commissioners used as a baseline in revenue projections for a 6% rate.

Board discussion and constraints: commissioners noted limits set by state law and ballot/tax rules. The board referenced the county’s experience with the 2023 ballot measure and cautioned about the difficulty of estimating first-year collections; a commissioner said the 2023 estimate used for ballot language was $1.8 million but actual 2024 collections for the 2% measure were about $460,000. Commissioners also discussed timing: the resolution includes a 10-year sunset (to 2034) so future continuation would require voter reauthorization and so the question will appear on an even-year general election ballot.

Formal action and next steps: Commissioner Mitchell moved to approve the lodging-tax resolution as drafted; the motion was seconded and carried 3-0. If voters approve the measure in November, commissioners said the amendment would take effect in the following year and be appropriated from the county’s existing lodging-tax fund (the “23 fund”) to the named recipients. The resolution, as presented to the board, preserves the 10% tourism allocation required by statute and adopts the distribution percentages the board endorsed in its work session.

The board did not adopt implementing appropriations at the meeting; commissioners indicated allocations would be handled through the county’s fund and subsequent budgeting processes. No amendments to the distribution percentages were adopted during the meeting.