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Montezuma County panel recommends lodgers-tax grants, commissioners to decide whether to place higher tax on November ballot
Summary
A county advisory group presented recommended lodgers-tax awards to multiple tourism groups and urged commissioners to consider putting an expanded lodging tax on the November ballot; the board deferred a final decision to the next meeting.
An advisory panel presented a package of recommended lodgers-tax awards to the Montezuma County Board of Commissioners and urged the board to consider placing an expanded lodging-tax rate on the November ballot.
The panel recommended roughly $55,000 in awards across local tourism and events groups, with specific recommendations including a $10,000 recommendation for the Montezuma Heritage Museum, a partial award for Galloping Goose (about half their request), near-full funding for the Mancos and Dolores chambers, $16,000 for programming from the Mancos Creative District (not funding for its proposed building purchase), and continued base support for Mesa Verde Country. The panel said it had $271 left in carryover.
The recommendation packet also addressed a request from Finish Line/Finish Line Racers, which requested $3,000 to support a dirt-bike event that featured a named rider identified in the presentation. The panel said it recommended only a small contribution toward that request. The Ute Mountain Rodeo, historically a $2,500 request, “doubled it this year,” and the panel recommended awarding the amount requested; the panel characterized the rodeo as an established local event that reaches target visitors.
Why it matters: Lodgers-tax funds in Montezuma County support tourism promotion and event marketing; decisions shape which organizations receive county marketing and visitor-promotion dollars and whether the county’s tax rate will be adjusted to match neighboring jurisdictions.
Panel members and several commissioners discussed compliance and reporting from short-term rental platforms. The panel reported an increase in short-term rental (VRBO/Airbnb) reporting and said it is a multi-year effort to bring all hosts into proper reporting. Panelists said regional drive markets (Phoenix and Denver) were strong and that some local lodging operators reported May occupancy and revenue increases of 16%–30% compared with prior periods.
Commissioners asked about recent state legislation that could allow counties to raise lodgers-tax rates (the discussion referenced La Plata County’s ballot action): several speakers urged putting a rate increase on the ballot. The panel’s presenter argued that matching neighboring jurisdictions’ rates could reduce confusion for travelers and help Montezuma County capture more lodging revenue.
What’s next: Commissioners deferred a final decision and said they would make a determination at the scheduled meeting the following day.
Quotes (selected): “Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this could be one of the best years that we've ever had and I will be happy to report back to you gentlemen when that time comes and hopefully be able to celebrate that with you,” the panel presenter said. A commissioner said, “I would advocate very heavily to match the amount of tax that they're charging for this area,” referring to neighboring Durango/La Plata County rates.
Ending: The board received the recommendations and scheduled a final vote on the awards and on whether to place a lodging-tax increase on the November ballot at the next meeting.
