Montezuma County approves $50,000 planning grant application for short-term rental permit program

The Montezuma County Board of Commissioners on May 19 approved submitting a $50,000 Local Planning Capacity grant application to support planning for a short‑term rental (STR) annual permit‑fee program.

Commissioner Mr. Kopernick moved to approve the grant application; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote. County planning staff (Don) told the board the grant could fund legal services and a contract with Granicus to search online listings and build a database of properties advertising as STRs. Staff estimated the grant funds should be available in August and expected a roughly three‑month data‑collection phase, with program implementation targeted near the start of the following year if the county proceeds.

Planning staff noted prior estimates from local lodging‑tax tracking suggested many short‑term operators may not be paying lodging taxes; the staff presentation cited an internal projection that hundreds of rentals might not be remitting lodging tax. The board asked about timelines and outreach; staff said the county would notify property owners by mail and include flyers with property tax notices as it has for earlier land‑use efforts.

The approval was limited to submitting the grant application; any ordinance or fee program based on the grant-funded work would return to the board for future consideration.

Next steps outlined by staff were to apply for the grant, contract for data collection if funded, and then bring an implementation plan or ordinance back to the board for deliberation.