The Steamboat Springs preliminary sales tax report for January showed a 4.51% jump from the revenue collected in the same month last year.
In what is traditionally one of the largest sales tax months for Steamboat, the city’s finance director, Kim Weber, said the January returns, which represented a $207,158 increase compared to January 2023, “make a big difference on how we look on the rest of the year.”
“We came in 4.5% higher than last year and we budgeted 3%, so we are starting off the year on a good foot, a good note and we are sticking steady with our budget,” Weber said.
The finance director added she was “pleasantly surprised” with the jump in sales tax revenue for the month. Weber said the favorable snow totals recorded by Steamboat Resort may have helped boost tourism, but she mostly attributed the increase in tax collections to an increase in the cost of goods sold at grocery stores.
“I believe that it is an increase in costs,” Weber said. “If you look at what items are up, it’s grocery stores and food stores, which were up 22%, and so that tax is a function of price and the costs of items are up. I don’t attribute the increase completely to tourism.
“I think a large portion of it is actually attributed to an increase in the costs of goods sold because, if you look, sporting goods are down and a couple of the other areas are down. I think a lot of it has to do with just the rising prices.”
Along with the city’s jump in sales tax revenue in January, the accommodations tax collections also rose 11% higher than the revenue collected through the first month of 2023.
The 1% accommodations tax revenue is primarily dedicated to funding local trail projects with a smaller portion directed to marketing for the projects and supporting capital improvements at the city’s Haymaker Golf Course.
Weber said the uptick in the accommodations tax could be linked to the ski resort’s snow totals this season in comparison to other resorts in Colorado.
As of March 1, Steamboat Resort led all Colorado resorts in terms of snow totals with 294 inches, with Winter Park and Wolf Creek trailing at 257 and 238 inches, respectively.
“I do think our tourism stayed stronger than it might have if we didn’t have more snow,” Weber said. “I have heard that from other people as well, that we probably got a lot of visitors that could have gone elsewhere, but because of the snow they came to Steamboat.”
The city’s preliminary tax report for January also showed a massive 116.75% increase in short-term rental tax revenue compared to last year’s tax collection in that category.
Steamboat voters approved the short-term rental tax in the November 2022 general election. The tax went into effect Jan. 1, 2023, but the city did not collect on reservations made prior to that date.
Weber noted the sharp increase in short-term rental tax collections in January, to the tune of more than $1.5 million, is largely an outcome of that dynamic.
“The reason it is up so much is because in 2023 all reservations that were made prior to Jan. 1 were exempt to the (short-term rental) tax,” she said.
Trevor Ballantyne is the city government and housing reporter. To reach him, call 970-871-4254 or email him at [email protected].
