Ketchum voters do not have to decide for now whether to support a tax increase that would impact local short-term rentals and hotels.
The Ketchum City Council has decided to postpone its attempt to pass a two percent increase in the local option tax on overnight stays, which is scheduled for a vote in November.
Had the proposal passed, the council would have proposed directing the taxes collected to the city’s property preservation program, which pays money to homeowners if they agree to deed the land for local use. But at a city council meeting last week, council members expressed concerns about putting the proposal before voters so soon. They decided to continue discussions in the fall, with the goal of putting a proposal on the ballot sometime next year.
Council Member Courtney Hamilton said continuing discussions on the matter would also give the relatively new property preservation program a chance to demonstrate some success using existing funding and highlight the benefits of expanding funding for the program.
“I think we have some successful examples of that. We’ve gotten those people and the people on the waiting list to mobilize, and then we can make a stronger and better effort in that direction in May or November,” Hamilton said.
After hearing a few people speak on the matter, most of whom expressed opposition, the council discussed a number of potential benefits that could result from delaying the vote on the bill.
Several voiced concerns about proposing the lodging fee increase on the same ballot as the proposal for a new fire district, a proposal the council had already agreed to put on the November ballot.
“I’m worried that people are going to be confused and frustrated, all the sentiments that we’ve heard today … whether it’s directly related to (the property preservation program) or not, I don’t want it to negatively impact the fire district vote because I think this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that we should really take advantage of,” Hamilton said.
Council members said they wanted to give the public more time to become familiar with the property preservation program and expressed doubt that the measure would pass in November without that understanding and support.
Council member Amanda Breen said another risk of the measure failing in November is that the council may not put it to a vote again until November 2025.
“On the other hand, if we do the work and discuss this over the next few months and maybe come back with exactly the same thing after we’ve done it right, we’ll at least have a lot more knowledge and discussion in the community about it,” Breen said, “and then if it passes on the vote in May, we won’t have lost that much time.”
