Last week we asked what Wyoming’s Prop 1 would mean for owners who don’t live where they rent. Voters answered: no. In Colorado, most of the STR and second-home taxes on the ballot went the other way — with one notable exception. Every result below is unofficial.
MARKET INTEL
Wyoming Prop 1 fails. The initiative to exempt 50% of a primary residence’s assessed value from property tax went down Tuesday. With about 70% of the vote counted as of 11:20 p.m., the AP had it at roughly 54.2% against and 42.7% for. Blank ballots counted as no votes, since the measure needed a majority of everyone who voted in the general election.
Teton County, the county with the most at stake on both sides, rejected it by a wider margin: about 63% against and 37% for, per the Jackson Hole News&Guide. Existing relief stays in place, including the 2025 law that exempts 25% of the first $1 million of a primary home’s market value.
What this means for operators (our read): The scenario we flagged in Issue 29 — local governments backfilling a large primary-home cut with mill increases that STR and second-home owners would pay without an offsetting exemption — is off the table for now.
But Teton County voted to raise one levy. Early returns showed voters approving a Teton County Hospital District increase that lets St. John’s Health levy up to six mills, up from three, at about 74% in favor. They also continued the Teton Conservation District tax (up to one mill) at about 86%. Both apply to all property in the county, rentals included.
Colorado: the STR taxes mostly pass. Early, unofficial returns:
Mt. Crested Butte 2A — raising the excise tax on residentially assessed short-term rentals from 4.9% to 9.9% for community housing — led 256 to 213. The town estimates up to $2.5 million a year beginning in 2027.
Crested Butte’s excise tax on non-primary homes and vacant land was losing, 523 to 302.
Boulder 2J, a $4,000-a-year tax on homes occupied 183 days or less, had about 56–57% support.
Broomfield 1A, raising the lodging tax on stays of 30 days or less from 1.6% to 6% for housing, was leading but not yet called.
Gypsum voters rejected a 4% town lodging tax that would have replaced the county’s.
One more: Vrbo’s flat 12% host commission is now live as of October 29.
OPERATOR PLAYBOOK
After the vote, before the bill. Election night counts move. Gunnison County results stay unofficial until November 25.
How to use this (our advice, not sourced):
Confirm final counts on your county clerk’s site before you change pricing or projections.
Mt. Crested Butte owners: confirm with the town when the 9.9% rate applies and who remits it, and check whether your booking platforms collect it or you do. Then update tax settings before 2027 stays are booked.
Boulder owners: read how 2J defines occupancy before you assume an STR is exempt or taxed. We couldn’t confirm that from the ballot coverage.
Teton County owners: watch for the hospital levy on your next tax bill, and build it into 2027 operating budgets.
DEAL SPOTLIGHT
Northern Utah RV park portfolio. Three parks with 115+ sites, listed at $9,000,000 with YALE Advisors at a 7.3% cap rate, per the October 22 RV Listing’s Rundown. That’s roughly $78,000 per site. For contrast, Issue 29’s HTR Durango was listed at about $32,800 per unit and a 6.9% cap.
Know an operator who’d use this? Refer one and we’ll send you the Mountain West STR Regulation Cheat Sheet — a five-state map of who regulates STRs and the taxes that matter.
Did your town’s measure pass? Hit reply and tell us what’s on the ballot where you operate — we’ll track it.
— Timberline Operator
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