Is the idea of allowing local governments to charge a vacancy tax to owners of residences left empty for much of the year a new tactic in the fight to boost affordable housing, or is government overreach that limits residents’ ability to use their private property as they’d like? That’s the debate that the “Colorado Chamber Office Hours” podcast digs into this week.
Kevin Bommer, executive director of the Colorado Municipal League explains where the idea for House Bill 1036, which would permit local governments to ask voters to approve such a tax, came from and how much of an impact he believes it could have. And Bommer, a proponent of the the bill, talks as well about the bigger issue of affordable housing and the ways in which he believes the state government is attacking it correctly and incorrectly.
Brian Tanner, vice president of public policy for the Colorado Association of Realtors, calls the bill that is scheduled to be heard in committee this afternoon an abrogation of property rights that will have unintended consequences. Giving government power over how homeowners can use their properties will chill an already cold real-estate market, and it will not create more workforce housing as backers think it could, Tanner says.
Listen to this latest episode — hosted by Ed Sealover, editor of The Sum & Substance and Colorado Chamber of Commerce vice president of strategic initiatives — on all of the following channels:
