Vail
Steel and Concrete Could Be Taxed in Vail Colorado
By Administrator

With several new projects on the horizon such as bridge repair, affordable housing and reducing freeway noise, Vail is looking for way to pay for them.  They have proposed a tax on construction materials to fund these projects but the proposal has been met by some opposition.  Some residents feel that Vail should be pushing for a property tax increase instead of the Construction tax.  The proposal is for a 4% tax on building materials.  The materials would include concrete, steel, stone, stucco, roofing, plaster and glass. These types of materials when currently purchased outside of Vail are not subject to this tax.  The tax would supposedly generate $4 million in 2008.  Some builders in Vail are strongly opposed to the tax as well but are saying that they will simply pass the tax on to the homeowner anyway.  The problem is that this would obviously increase the price of housing which is already very expensive.  In direct contradiction with this, is the towns focus on trying to make housing more affordable. 

There are residents who are in favor of this tax and hope it will fund needed road repairs and bridge repairs. When you purchase supplies at local hardware stores, Resident’s are taxed at 4% sales tax and feel that the builders purchasing material to build homes in Vail should be subject to the same tax.   Residents recall that in the 90’s the town resorted to layoffs when faced with financial problems and feel that this construction tax would be a solution for Vail’s future.  Construction would obviously continue with or without this tax so it would appear to have fewer ramifications.  Gypsum Colorado, located approximately 40 minutes from Vail, implement a construction-use tax and has not seen a slow down in construction as a result and ended up building a new recreation center with the money.

One of the biggest developers in Vail, Vail Resorts Development Company would owe around $1billion for the Ever Vail project in West Lionshead.  With Vail’s New Dawn implementing several large projects including Solaris, the Four Seasons the Ritz-Carlton, this new tax could have a huge impact for Vail.