For the past seven months, BMMD has been educating the Wildernest community about the purpose and need for a proposed 4% sales tax within the BMMD boundaries.
In an effort to inform the public, BMMD mailed Q&A’s to all property owners, held two public meetings in June and July, posted all data on BMMD’s website, and invited District constituents to participate in a recent on-line survey.
The survey’s purpose was to inform Wildernest residents by including information about the facts, purpose, and reasons why BMMD was considering putting the sales tax question before voters in November. The survey showed clear future revenue shortfalls due to needed infrastructure repairs and maintenance costs that have doubled in price. It also showed the likely cut back in snow plowing, pothole repair and repaving projects if the sales tax was not approved. Detailed financial information was also provided on how the budget would be stable if the sales tax was approved. Key findings of the survey follow:
Þ A strong majority of eligible voters within the BMMD are familiar with the services the district provides (70%) and approve of the job we are doing (88% approve). 6% of eligible voters disapprove of the job BMMD is doing.
Þ Once respondents learned information about the reasons behind the 4% sales tax request, 67% of voters would support a ballot measure and 22% opposed it.
Þ Supporters of the sales tax think the servicing and upkeep of the roads, snowplowing and infrastructure is worth the sales tax increase and understand the cost of providing the services has increased.
Þ Supporters agree that short-term renters would be paying a significant portion of the sales tax, and think a sales tax is much better than a property tax increase.
Þ Non-supporters who oppose the tax believe the current sales taxes are already a burden and they can’t afford anymore. Others mention a 4% jump in sales tax is simply too high.
When comparing the current sales tax rate for Wildernest property owners to other communities in Summit County it is apparent that the sales tax rate in Wildernest is currently on average 4% lower. Furthermore, if a sales tax is not approved BMMD will need to cut back significantly on infrastructure improvements, snow plowing, pothole repairs, pedestrian path repairs, and repaving projects, or find another funding source to pay for these items like a potential property tax or fee increases.
Keep a look-out on the November ballot for the BMMD sales tax question. You must be an eligible voter to vote on this issue. Definition of an eligible voter is a person registered to vote in the State of Colorado AND: A) Resident of the District; OR B) Owner or the spouse of an owner of taxable real or personal property within the boundaries of the District (owned in your personal name, not trust or LLC); OR C) Obligated to pay taxes under a contract to purchase taxable property within the District. If you are an eligible voter, you will receive a separate Summit County ballot at your primary home address which will include the BMMD sales tax question. Please contact BMMD if you have any questions. We appreciate your continued support.
7/7/20...
The Buffalo Mountain Metro District invites you to participate in a very important survey by clicking on this web link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Buffalo_Mtn
This survey will measure the opinions of Wildernest property owners who are also registered voters in Colorado regarding a possible sales tax increase this November. The survey will contain information that will give you a clear picture of the Buffalo Mountain Metro District’s financial picture. It is this reason we are considering a possible sales tax.
If you have any questions regarding this survey, please do not hesitate to contact Buffalo Mountain Metro District Manager Shellie Duplan at 970-513-1300 or by email at shellie@bmmd.org. The metro district sincerely thanks you in advance for your participation and cooperation.
Upcoming Survey
7/1/20... The Buffalo Mountain Metropolitan District (BMMD) will be a conducting a very important survey online starting on Tuesday, July 7th. This survey will measure the opinions of Wildernest property owners who are also registered voters in Colorado regarding a possible sales tax increase.
To ensure that you receive a text or email on Tuesday, July 7th that contains a link to participate in the survey, we need you to provide your voter registration and contact information (cell phone or email). To provide your contact information please click the button below.
Providing this information is very important, especially for property owners that are not year-round residents of the Wildernest development. However, if you are not registered to vote in Colorado you do not need to complete this form.
We are encouraging everyone to submit their information by next Monday, July 6th so we can contact you with a text or email that allows you to take the survey on Tuesday, July 7th. We also want to assure individuals who submit their contact information after Tuesday, July 7th will still receive a link to the participate in the survey by text or email if you are able to provide us with an email or cell phone number.
If you have any questions regarding this survey, please do not hesitate to contact BMMD Manager Shellie Duplan at 970-513-1300 or by email at shellie@bmmd.org. The Metro District sincerely thanks you in advance for your participation and cooperation.
Town Hall Meetings
BMMD is inviting you to attend a town hall meeting to discuss the potential local sales tax initiative. The Board of Directors and consultants will be prepared to answer questions and receive your comments.
- Tuesday, June 16, 2020, 6:00 p.m. – Participation in this meeting will be available through on-line ZOOM webinar or by phone. To join the on-line webinar, visit: https://zoom.us/j/97099752765. To listen in by phone call: (253) 215-8782 or (301) 715-8592, Webinar ID: 970-9975-2765.
- Friday, July 10, 2020, 5:00 p.m. - Participation in this meeting will be available through on-line ZOOM webinar or by phone. To join the on-line webinar, visit: https://zoom.us/j/96935287185. To listen in by phone call: (253) 215-8782 or (301) 715-8592, Webinar ID: 969-3528-7185.
Submit Written Comments
If you are unable to attend the town hall meetings, simply email your comments or questions to District Manager, Shellie Duplan at shellie@bmmd.org.
Thank you in advance for spending your time reviewing this information. We look forward to your feedback!
BMMD Presentation For Public Information
6/23/20...The BMMD has hosted the first of two public meetings to discuss potential local sales tax initiative. Click the following link to view the power point presentation.
Sales Tax - Public Meeting Presentation.pdf
Public Questions & District Answers
6/22/20
Click the following link to view a list of questions received from the public regarding the potential sales tax initiative and the District answers.
Notice to Wildernest 6-22-20.pdf
Notice to Wildernest Property Owners, Residents & Eligible Voters
5/13/20
This informational notice was mailed to all property owners in Wildernest and contains important information about a potential Wildernest & Cortina Ridge local sales tax initiative and how it affects property owners and residents in the community. Click the following link to view the Q&A to help better understand the issues.
Notice To Wildernest 5-13-20.pdf
Potential Sales Tax in Wildernest
Revenues Can Help Subsidize Infrastructure Upgrades
2/5/20....Through the on-going process of long-range financial and asset management planning, BMMD has looked at alternative ways to raise needed revenue. BMMD has recently identified a potential source of revenue that could help the District subsidize needed infrastructure upgrades and operation services by implementing a local Wildernest sales tax.
In 2010, the State of Colorado allowed metro districts like ourselves to adopt a sales tax as an alternative revenue source to pay for road construction and maintenance, transportation and road safety. Other District’s in neighboring Eagle County have acted on it and are helping subsidize their residential services and projects with this type of additional revenue source.
Road construction, plowing and path maintenance in Wildernest has historically been provided by property taxes paid by all property owners in Wildernest. The cost to provide road services are independent from the source of revenues used to pay for the services. Therefore, to the extent road services can be paid for with another revenue source like sales taxes, fewer property taxes will be needed. Or conversely, if sales taxes are not available to pay for necessary road services, then more property taxes will be needed to provide these services. Also, a benefit of sales taxes is that they are paid by a much larger segment of the population than just property owners.
The potential sales tax would be applicable to all “taxable” sales within the Wildernest community, including products sold by commercial vendors in Wildernest, rental income from short-term rental properties (under 30 days), and products delivered into Wildernest from vendors outside of Wildernest (deliveries from Lowes in Silverthorne or internet retailers like Amazon).
With respect to short-term rentals, the majority of the potential sales taxes would be paid by short term renters from outside the community. The property owner will not actually pay the sales tax, they would simply collect it along with the State and County sales tax they are already collecting from their renter and pass it along to the Colorado Department of Revenue who will then pass BMMD’s portion to us.
Approximately 30% of the properties in the Wildernest community are listed as short-term rentals. Vacationers and/or renters that utilize short-term rental properties in Wildernest currently do not have to pay a lodging tax like other Summit County municipalities (i.e., Silverthorne, Frisco, Dillon, Breckenridge, Blue River). And shoppers receiving products delivered into Wildernest are only subject to the State’s and Summit County’s sales tax but not subject to a local sales tax.
The primary disadvantage of implementing a sales tax in Wildernest is that property owners and residents currently enjoy a lower sales tax rate than the neighboring communities. A short-term rental property in Wildernest may be more attractive to a renter than a similar property in a neighboring community if BMMD does not implement a sales tax.
In order for BMMD to implement a sales tax, the eligible voting constituents in Wildernest would have to approve it by majority ballot election, tentatively scheduled for the November 3, 2020 election. Before this occurs, BMMD is planning to hold public meetings and plans to provide more information about this potential sales tax, and to receive feedback from all property owners this Spring. Please stay tuned for more information on this topic and don’t hesitate to contact Manager Shellie Duplan shellie@bmmd.org in the meantime if you have questions.