In May of 2025, the Town of Basalt held a series of contested public hearings on a potential $2,532 per bedroom per year fee for short term rental (STR) operations in order to generate revenue for affordable housing. The fee was approved by a vote of 4-3, but not without hours of debate between councilors and dozens of citizens coming to the podium to voice their support for or concerns with the new measure. Town staff were directed to hold off on charging the fee until the new year began. For at least one household, the new fee has stretched their finances too far.
From Berlin to New York, housing studies have found correlations between STRs and decreased housing availability and increased rents. It intuitively makes sense — one bedroom held for tourists is one less bedroom available for the local workforce, and in the Roaring Fork Valley, tourism can be highly lucrative. However, due to those very housing costs, income from STRs is the only thing keeping some locals afloat.
Michael Schoepe and his husband, Paul Dankers, have been a part of the Roaring Fork Valley’s community for many years, closely involved with the Aspen Choral Society, VOICES, Challenge Aspen and other organizations as a pair and individually. In 2024, the two became music co-directors at the Two Rivers Unitarian Universalist congregation. For years they have worked long hours to make ends meet, while offering rooms in their home for both an STR and long-term rentals.
Schoepe was one of multiple Basaltians who came to the podium during last May’s public hearing to voice concerns about the proposed STR fee. Schoepe, like others, communicated to Town Council that his STR operation made life in Basalt possible, and that a new fee on top of the current cost of living would be the proverbial “straw that breaks the camel’s back.” That prediction has become reality, and Schoepe and Dankers have made the difficult decision to sell their home and leave Basalt indefinitely.
Basalt’s first STR license was issued in 2017. In the four years before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, Basalt issued an average of 9.75 STR licenses per year. In 2022, the number of licenses tripled to 31. The quantity steadily increased in subsequent years, peaking in 2025 at 47 licenses.
In response, Town Council attempted to address affordable housing needs via a flat per bedroom per year fee for STRs. Town Staff and Council landed on a $2,532 rate based on a study by Economic and Planning Systems (EPS) which stated that this value was half of the maximum amount that could be charged. EPS calculated this total value measuring the gap between the housing local employees can afford and the average cost of housing in Basalt.
As of Feb. 9 of this year, only 22 licenses have been issued, 20 of which are renewals. While data is unavailable for how many bedrooms are being rented per license, a majority of Airbnbs listed online in Basalt are only one bedroom. At a minimum, Basalt has generated $55,704 from the new fee thus far. Notably, Schoepe did not pay the license fee and instead plans to stop operating his Airbnb after using the 60-day primary residence exemption.
In 2025, before the fee was active and when the quantity of licenses was twice as high, the Town would have hypothetically generated at least $119,004. Some concerned citizens were quick to opine at hearings that this did not appear to be a significant amount of revenue considering the median home price of a single-family residence in Basalt was over $1.8 million in 2024 according to a separate housing needs assessment by EPS. In addition, multiple STR-operating citizens stated that the fee would discourage them from operating in the new year, implying less revenue would be generated by this fee.
Other mountain communities have employed other methods of using STRs to produce revenue. The Town of Carbondale imposes a 6% tax of the gross rental price paid by customers, a 2% lodging tax and a variable license fee depending on the number of bedrooms and whether the property is owner occupied. The maximum licensing fee in Carbondale, which would be for a four-bedroom property that’s not owner-occupied, is $875 (less than a third of Basalt’s standard per-bedroom fee). The minimum is $100.
Schoepe explained in an interview that it’s not always as simple as increasing the rental rate to factor in the new fee. For his modestly-sized operation, prices need to be comparatively low to remain competitive on the local market. Other STR operators in hearings argued that a flat per-bedroom rate disproportionately affected more affordable operations.
Schoepe also emphasized that when he and his husband sell their home, they can’t determine whether the buyer will be a full-time Basalt resident or whether they’d use part of the property for a rental, short or long-term — the latter of which the pair had offered to members of the local workforce.
While Schoepe and Dankers will continue to contribute to the Roaring Fork Valley’s musical community through the summer after finding temporary residence downvalley, they are preparing to begin a new chapter of their lives after a measure meant to promote affordable housing inadvertently made their own housing unaffordable.
What do you think of Basalt’s $2,532 per bedroom per year fee for short term rentals? Join the discussion on Mountain Perspectives.