Avon Town Council to discuss housing guidelines, construction use tax
1990-1991 housing guidelines expected to be replaced, construction materials use tax more controversial
Town of Avon/Courtesy image
Tuesday’s Avon Town Council meeting will cover a number of topics, including an update to the town’s housing guidelines, which were established in 1990-91, and a first hearing on a ballot question for a proposed use tax on construction materials.
The senior town planner for the town of Avon, Jena Skinner, proposed updates to the 1990-91 housing guidelines, which have not been formally updated since they were created. The document will be retitled the “Town of Avon Housing Program Guide and Administrative Procedures,” for the purpose of sounding more official, according to the briefing. The old guidelines currently affect 66 price-capped deed-restricted units in Avon, effectively preventing the sale and improvement of many units. It also does not recognize the Mi Casa affordable housing initiative, the town of Avon housing plan, or the use of Area Median Incomes to establish the values of the price-capped units, because none of these programs or qualifications existed when the guidelines were created.
The resolution noted that while the low price currently associated with the units is beneficial to potential buyers, it does not properly serve current owners who wish to sell their units, as the compensation they would receive aligns with the value of their property when they purchased it, rather than the 2023 value. Some owners are also unable to make improvements to their units, due to caps on expenditures that are tied to the original purchase price.
Town staff has recommended that the Avon Town Council approve the resolution, which would replace the old 1990-91 housing guidelines with the new Housing Program Guide and Administrative Procedures.
The July 25 Town Council meeting will also feature a first reading of an ordinance for a construction materials use tax ballot question proposed by Town Manager Eric Heil. The last time a construction materials use tax was seen on the ballot was in 2002, when it failed to pass by a vote of 573 against 379 for the use tax.
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Avon is the lone town in Eagle County that does not have a construction materials use tax, though the 4% sales tax on construction materials matches that of Vail, Minturn, Eagle and Gypsum. The proposed use tax, also of 4%, would match the construction materials use taxes of Vail, Minturn, and Eagle. A construction materials use tax has been found to be more effective in generating revenue for the town than a sales tax, in part because the sales tax is difficult to collect. The town should be able to collect the use tax more consistently, and the use tax should aid in eliminating unfair competition through manipulation of tax rates.
If approved at both this week’s first reading, and a future second reading of the ordinance, there will be a question on the Nov. 7, 2023, ballot for Avon residents about the implementation of a construction materials use tax, beginning in 2024.
To hear firsthand how the Avon Town Council decides on these issues, and others, or to make a comment to council, attend the meeting in-person at the Town Hall, or on Zoom, at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, July 25.
