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Unlike most places, in Eagle County, that are not occupied by a full-time resident. What might surprise you, however, is how much these empty homes contribute to our community.

Think about it. All those homeowners are paying the same rate of property tax as full-time residents — yet there are no kids in schools, and for most of the time at least, no cars on the roads or other public services consumed. I don’t have exact data, but I would estimate that the average “vacation home” cost is roughly double the average home price in Eagle County, so in theory, most of our property tax revenue comes from people who don’t even live here.

Sweet. Now that seems like a gift.

I have a few questions. First, where is all of this money going? Second, why, with all of this windfall are we constantly being asked to approve new taxes, like sales and construction taxes and even higher property taxes? Last, what is the logic of raising taxes on these homes even more with a “vacancy tax” on homes not used full-time?

First let me prove to you that, comparatively, Eagle County is raking in a lot of tax dollars. Here is a quick comparison. Mesa County, home to the Western Slope’s largest city, Grand Junction, has a . That is slightly less than Eagle County’s. While having comparable budgets, Mesa County provides . Eagle County is basically spending three times more per resident than Mesa County on services.

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Eagle County took in over for 2024 while Mesa County (with three times the population) only took in . I will let you be the judge as to whether we are getting good value for our money, but one thing is clear: By comparison, we have a huge budget.

The logic behind the proposed legislation at the state Capitol — which would allow local governments to ask voters to approve a tax on vacant homes — is that it will drive owners to rent out their homes long-term to locals. Does anyone else see how fundamentally flawed this thinking is? You are economically able to afford a vacation home for the express purpose of being able to use it for “vacations” so the government will tax you more in the belief that you will abandon your vacations, keep the home, and rent it out at a loss. This is beyond ridiculous.

Vacancy taxes will drive two things: They will induce owners to sell their vacation home to a corporation or group that will use it as a short-term rental or they will convert the home to a short-term rental themselves.

There is a big distinction between a vacation home that is used a few times per year and one that was purchased to use as a short-term rental. These homes are essentially hotels and place an outsized burden on local communities, which is why more municipalities are either restricting them or requiring them to pay fair property and lodging taxes similar to hotels. It is comical that our local governments would want to tax the “golden goose” — the empty vacation home that is paying huge taxes while receiving little in return while at the same time not fairly accounting for the cost impact of short-term rentals. Talk about taxation without representation.

I have an idea: How about we tax all skiers who buy a season ski pass and ski less than 20 days per year? Is it just me? Does anyone else see the unreasonableness of increasing fees when you simply choose not to use something you paid for? How about a tax if you don’t drive your car every day?

So, the question remains, where is all of this money going? It would seem like some core issues like housing affordability and school funding should be getting more attention given these high funding levels. We could spend $100 million per year on housing affordability and still have double the county spend per capita of other counties around the state.

One thing seems clear, the county is very well funded and the last thing we need is more taxes. Maybe we need our version of the here in Eagle County to take a look at spending and how we can do more to address key issues as well as review the effectiveness of this funding.

Mark Lewis, a Colorado native, had a long career in technology, including serving as the CEO of several tech companies. He’s now retired and writes thriller novels. Mark and his wife, Lisa, and their two Australian Shepherds — Kismet and Cowboy, reside in Edwards.