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Commissioners weigh CCAT 2027 priorities: housing flexibility favored, statewide revenue and TABOR litigation questioned
Summary
San Miguel County commissioners reviewed Counties & Commissioners Acting Together (CCAT) policy concepts, recommending focus on county land‑use authority and housing‑tailored approaches while expressing caution about proposals that tie county revenue to statewide allocations or pursue a broad TABOR constitutionality lawsuit.
Commissioner Brown led a review of a CCAT survey on potential 2027 policy priorities, and the board discussed housing strategies, revenue‑diversification proposals and legislative process concerns.
Commissioners agreed county-led housing strategies and attention to county land-use authority are priorities. "We need our focus on rural and small counties and the hurdles we really see," one commissioner said, urging CCAT to elevate rural impacts when proposals are framed for the state. The group discussed definitional choices — whether to base remodel triggers on valuation, square footage or assessed value — and cautioned that valuation-based metrics may be contested or costly to audit.
On revenue diversification, participants discussed excise taxes (with possible service or recreational categories), short‑term rental reclassification, vacancy taxes and real‑estate transfer fees. Commissioners liked the flexibility of an excise-tax approach but flagged implementation questions: voter approval rules, whether the Department of Revenue would collect the tax, collection costs if counties must administer the revenue, and fairness if only a portion of the county were taxed. Several commissioners said they would not prioritize proposals that link county revenues to the state’s general pool or that pursue a TABOR constitutional challenge at this time.
The board asked staff to capture these comments in the CCAT survey: prioritize county‑focused housing measures and select a limited set of revenue options for deeper review, while not advancing statewide revenue reassignments or TABOR litigation without more analysis.
