What is a lodgers’ tax and who pays the tax?

A hotel tax or lodging tax is charged in most of the United States to visitors when they rent accommodations (a room, rooms, entire home, or other living space) in a hotel, motel B&B, vacation rentals, and for less than 30 days.

When did the original lodgers’ tax go into effect in Durango?

A 2% lodger’s tax Ordinance 80-1302 was successfully passed by the Durango City Council in 1980, 41 years ago.

How is the current 2% City lodgers’ tax spent?

60% to marketing and tourism advertising for Durango, 30% to transit, 10% to special events and admin.

How can the 5.25% City lodgers' tax benefit the community?

The allocation of tax revenues will be as follows: 55% of the lodgers’ tax will be directed towards sustainable tourism marketing, 20% will be directed towards transportation and transit services, 14% to arts and cultural events and an additional 11% for the purposes above or purposes related to the impacts of tourism, as the Council may determine. The projected increased lodging revenues, from tourism, could be just the thing to reinvigorate our local Durango economy.

How much will a 5.25% lodging tax increase a visitor’s overall check out rate?

Durango’s current total guest tax is 10.4% and if 1-A passes it would increase to 13.65%, still putting us below the state average. For a $130 hotel room rate, increasing the lodgers’ tax from 2% to 5.25% would equate to a price increase of $4.22 for a typical overnight stay.

Who collects, distributes, and manages the lodgers' tax revenues?

Hotels, motels, B&Bs, and vacation home rentals will collect the 30-day transient tax upon guest check-out, then the revenues are transferred to the City of Durango Finance department. City Finance then distributes the tax revenues, based on the percentages voted on by the Citizens of Durango, to City contracted entities for marketing, arts and cultural events, as well as transfers to the transit fund and general fund.

How will lodging tax revenues support transit?

The lodgers’ tax, paid by people staying at hotels, motels, B&Bs and vacation rentals, would add about $500,000 annually to the City transportation and transit budget. Funding Transit helps alleviate the parking downtown, providing public transportation options, which is vital to many of our community members to get to their jobs. In addition, additional Lodger’s tax funding will help the City provide transit services for visitors, such as enhanced trolley hours and related transportation options.

How will lodging tax revenues support Creative Nonprofits?

14% of lodgers’ tax will support creative nonprofits and cultural events. With this funding, our local cultural nonprofit organizations, facilities, and events can do even more to increase our resident’s quality of life. Grants from the Arts & Culture fund, which will be established if the lodgers’ tax passes and will be administered by the City of Durango, are estimated to be less than 5% of each organization's budget. This keeps those organizations responsible for the other 95% of their budget through earned revenue and fundraising activities. The nonprofits which will likely apply for City grants to include: The Powerhouse Science Center & Maker Lab, the Community Concert Hall, the Durango Art Center, Music in the Mountains, Durango Film Fest, Public Art Program, the Durango Creative District, and many more.

Will lodging tax revenues support Annual Events?

Events that could be supported by lodgers’ tax are the Bluegrass Meltdown, Film Fest, Taste of Durango, Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Play Fest and many others. Every community has roads and sidewalks, but the ones you would want to live in have a vibrant arts & cultural events scene and activities.

How does tourism help air service for locals and Durango?

Passenger traffic recovery at Durango/La Plata Airport (DRO) has outpaced the US average throughout the duration of the 2020 pandemic. While there was weak business and local Durango and 4 Corners resident traffic, proportionately there was strong leisure and visitor traffic in and out of DRO regional airport. The average trip duration of visitors coming through DRO regional airport increased from 0.5 nights to 5.3 nights and the median household income of passengers increased from $130,000 to $147,000. For visitors flying into Durango, 59% of the passenger lodging nights were in Durango.

New seasonal air service has been announced starting in summer 2021 between Durango and Los Angeles (American) as well as the initiation of year-round daily service (starting in May 2021) between Durango and Salt Lake City (Delta). Continued leisure and visitor traffic, increased visitor stay, and increased air service all point to the strength of Durango as a destination. And more importantly for local Durango area residents, the competitive air service options, and daily DRO flights continue to remain convenient for both local residents and businesses.

What is Sustainable Tourism and how does it benefit Durango?

Sustainable tourism is an industry committed to making a low impact on the environment and local Durango culture, while helping to generate future employment for local Durango people. The goal of sustainable tourism is to ensure a positive experience for residents, tourism businesses and visitors to Durango. Visit Durango created the region’s first resident sentiment survey to identify the community’s most pressing issues with visitation and received over 1,200 responses (July 2020). When it comes to tourism and visitors in La Plata County, the top priorities for residents included: FIRE SAFETY. HABITAT PROTECTION (TRAIL EROSION, RIVER PUT-INS, ETC.), RESPONSIBLE COVID-RELATED HEALTH PRECAUTIONS, CULTURAL RESPECT, and CONSIDERATE & SAFE RECREATING

After analyzing the results, the Visit Durango team created stewardship principles under a campaign titled “Care for Durango.” The five principles of Visit Durango reflect the top priorities of the community and are at the center of Visit Durango’s mission to mitigate potential negative impacts of unmanaged tourism. The principles are Be Healthy, Be Prepared, Leave No Trace, Be Fire wise, Be Respectful and reflect issues that are common to all of Colorado, but also on the local level and will ultimately protect Durango’s unique landscape, natural resources, and cultural history.

What does Visit Durango already do for Sustainable Tourism management and marketing?

In April 2020, Visit Durango formed a sustainable tourism task force composed of local stakeholders from a variety of public and private entities, including the City of Durango, Local First, Durango Trails, 4CORE, Southern Ute Indian Tribe, San Juan Mountains Association, and Fort Lewis College Environmental Center.

The task force is designed to work with the public sector and land managers to address infrastructure needs and impacts as well as educate and inspire residents/visitors to act more responsibly through practicing the aforementioned Visit Durango stewardship principles. Some major accomplishments of this committee are: the Care for Durango campaign and creating of the Care for Durango Pledge, an official partnership with San Juan Mountain Association which will provide a staff member for the Durango Welcome Center this summer to teach visitors about proper trail usage and sustainability, participation and advocacy for regional programs such as the Electric Vehicle readiness program, and more.

What community organizations and businesses support the increase in lodger’s tax?

• Durango Hospitality & Lodging Association (DAHLA)

• Durango Chapter of the Colorado Restaurant Association

• Durango Chamber of Commerce

• Durango Business Improvement District

• La Plata Economic Development Alliance

• Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

• Durango Rivertrippers & Adventures Tours

• Purgatory Resort

• Visit Durango