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Councilmember reports CML positions on housing and other bills; council asks for more detail on a proposed vacant-property tax
Summary
Councilmember Anna Stout briefed the workshop on positions taken by the Colorado Municipal League on several bills: opposition to a state 'HOME Act' preempting local land-use review, support for transit-housing financing (with a $50M refundable tax credit), opposition to a drone preemption bill and to limits on law‑enforcement access to third‑party data, and a permissive local vacant-property tax that would require voter approval.
Councilmember Anna Stout, reporting from a Colorado Municipal League (CML) executive-board meeting, summarized a range of bills and CML positions during the Jan. 26 workshop.
Stout said CML opposes a broadly preemptive housing bill described in the transcript as HB 2601 (referred to by the presenter as the 'HOME Act') because it would allow certain public or nonprofit landowners to develop housing via an administrative approval process and avoid local comprehensive-plan review. Stout said that bill is scheduled to be heard in the House Transportation, Housing, and Local Government Committee.
She said CML supports a municipal debt and financing measure (described in the transcript as HB 261065) that authorizes partnerships for transit‑housing projects and includes a refundable tax credit intended to spur affordable housing in transit zones. Stout also described opposition to a drone preemption bill (noted in the transcript as SB 2624) that would limit local authority over non‑airspace drone regulation, and opposition to a bill that would broadly curtail local law‑enforcement use of third‑party personal data (transcript reference: HB 26‑1037).
Stout also described a permissive bill originating with municipalities that would allow jurisdictions, with voter approval, to impose an excise or property tax on long‑vacant residential properties to fund affordable-housing projects (transcript reference: HB 26‑1036). She said this measure is intended to help mountain towns grappling with seasonal vacancies but is permissive and would require a local ballot question to enact.
Council members asked for additional material on that vacant‑property proposal before taking a position; staff said the city has no formal position at this time and that CML will notify municipalities as bills progress.
The workshop did not include votes on the bills; the update was informational.
