STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — Steamboat Springs City Council will move forward on discussions about putting a property tax on the 2021 ballot, but council members were less enthusiastic about its potential during a Tuesday night work session than they have been in the past, with one member dropping support for the move altogether.
“We are not looking at the full picture of what this is going to do to our community members and if something like this would pass,” said council member Heather Sloop, who said she could no longer support a property tax.
Scott Ford, a local economist and former City Council member, presented current council members with data showing 60% of lower-income people in Steamboat own their homes, though they may have bought them decades ago when the house was worth a fraction of what it is today. If city voters were to approve a 5-mill property tax, the amount council has been discussing for months, many in the community would not be able to pay it, Ford said.