Pitkin County staff propose lower short‑term rental fees, new owner‑occupied discount and enforcement steps

Pitkin County staff presented a package of changes to the county’s short‑term rental (STR) licensing program on Jan. 21, recommending lower annual fees based on 2024 assessed total actual value, a new discounted category for owner‑occupied "partial unit" listings, strengthened enforcement and administrative code changes including longer public notice.

The policy team said the updated fee table would replace the 2022 assessed values now used in licensing calculations and reduce the percentage multipliers applied to total actual value. Alex Sanchez, community development analyst, said staff propose dropping the highest multiplier to 0.04% and the lowest to 0.02% while using the assessor’s 2024 total actual value as the base. "The total actual value is really gonna be the number we recommend," Sanchez said, noting the change aims to account for land plus improvements and to avoid skewing fees by high land prices alone.

Staff said the change, modeled on 2024 assessments, would reduce fees for almost every STR licensee while still covering program budget needs. Jeanette Mizio, STR administrator, told commissioners the proposed structure "covers our budget and leaves a little bit of room" in case of future fluctuations in assessed values.

Why it matters

County staff emphasized the proposal is intended to strike a balance: lower annual fees for many licensees, protect the program’s operating budget, and add clearer enforcement tools and administrative rules. Commissioners agreed to move the package forward to a fee ordinance and accompanying code amendments for public review, with staff to return with the formal ordinance and required code language.

Details of the proposal

- Fee base: Use the assessor’s 2024 total actual value (land + improvements) rather than the 2022 values currently used. Staff said assessor data for properties assessed agricultural already produces lowered totals for those uses and does not require a separate agricultural discount.

- Fee multipliers: Staff presented a new tiered multiplier scale with the proposed top rate at 0.04% and the bottom rate at 0.02%, reduced from previous higher percentages. Staff said modeling against 2024 data shows the change still covers program expenses.

- Owner‑occupied / partial‑unit discount: Staff proposed a new category to recognize units where an owner lives on‑site and rents only part of the dwelling. That category would mirror the standard tiers but charge half the resulting fee. Mizio said the category is intended to keep the rules simple; the county will verify listings against reported bedroom counts and monitor active advertisements to catch discrepancies.

- Minimum/maximum night rules: Staff said they will defer broad changes pending completion of an impact fee study, but reported a local change already made for Redstone: the seasonal maximum was loosened (staff described an increase to 180 nights from an earlier 120) and the minimum was reduced (from 4 nights to 2 nights in that overlay). Commissioners asked staff to hold other global changes until the study completes.

- Enforcement and public notice: Staff recommended matching STR public notice to the land‑use code standard of 30 days (up from 15 days). They also recommended continuing and prioritizing third‑party monitoring for unlicensed activity, occupancy mismatches between license and listing, and other listing violations, and to add defined sanctions in a forthcoming code amendment. Staff said they will return with specific enforcement consequences for the code change.

- Monitoring and verification: Licensing staff explained they use a monitoring service (Rentalscape) to compare issued licenses with online listings and to flag discrepancies. Commissioners pressed staff on how owner‑occupancy is verified; staff said verification comes from the application and by monitoring active listings and that discrepancies trigger enforcement.

Budget and program workload

Staff said program revenue historically covered expenditures and the proposed fee reductions still leave enough cushion to cover operations under the county’s 2025 staffing model. Mizio noted earlier staffing for the program included two full‑time equivalents; 2025’s budget reduced that to 1.0 FTE plus portions of supervisory staff time, which also lowered the program’s projected expenses. The county is drafting an RFP for an impact fee study the board approved in October; staff said that study will inform future fee‑setting and program design.

Commissioner questions and next steps

Commissioners asked how fees distribute across the county’s roughly 80–90 licensed units and whether the owner‑occupied discount could create a loophole for commercial operations claiming owner‑occupancy. Staff acknowledged only a handful of licenses report a partial‑unit arrangement and said they will require listing language and application verification to reduce abuse. Staff also said they will enforce applications that underreport bedrooms or list properties inconsistently with issued licenses.

Board direction

Commissioners expressed general support for the staff recommendations and gave direction to move the package forward as a fee ordinance and a set of code amendments that would: update the fee schedule to 2024 values and new multipliers; add the owner‑occupied partial‑unit category at half fee; lengthen public notice to 30 days; codify enforcement consequences; and bring the licensing period option to two years for licenses in good standing. Staff will return with a formal fee ordinance and the text of code amendments for a public hearing process.

Ending

Staff and commissioners framed the package as an incremental, data‑driven update designed to reduce fees for many licensees while strengthening verification and enforcement. The board asked staff to return with the ordinance and proposed code language in coming months and for the results of the impact fee study before taking any broader changes to minimum/maximum night rules or other program design elements.