Short-term rentals in Carbondale, explained properly.

Applicant means a natural person with an ownership interest in the property, including a person matching an owner or co-owner on the current vesting deed or a person with a demonstrated controlling ownership interest in an entity or trust that holds record title. The applicant must provide proof of ownership (and, for an entity or trust, proof of the controlling interest). The Town's page says each license is issued to the property owner and not the property.

Each license is personal to the licensee, and no license is transferable or valid as to any other person or entity, or any other property. If short-term rentals will continue after a change of ownership of a licensed property, the Town requires a new license.

Section 6-10-40(c) bars housing that is part of the Town's Community Housing Program from holding a short-term rental license. The Town's page repeats the rule.

The code says covenants and agreements applying to the property may restrict or prohibit short-term rentals and that the Town's issuance of a license has no legal effect on them. Each licensee has an ongoing obligation to ensure that a short-term rental is allowed by any private covenants or agreements governing the property. The Town's page says the Town does not keep track of which homeowners' associations and covenants prohibit short-term rentals.

The code says the applicant pays the license fees from the fee table in Appendix A of the Municipal Code. The Town's license page lists the amounts above, with no date or fee-schedule reference shown on the page, so they are marked for review until checked against Appendix A. The number of bedrooms that may be occupied is limited to the number of bedrooms for which fees have been paid.

Renewal requires the same documentation as an initial application, including proof that all applicable Carbondale sales and lodging tax has been paid on the rental. No inspection is required at renewal. Applicants must also keep the information in their application up to date at all times.

The application goes to the Town Clerk on the Clerk's forms. The Clerk may issue a license only when the application is complete, the license fees and all other taxes and fees owed to the Town (including outstanding amounts on the applicant's or owner's other properties) are paid, a satisfactory inspection is complete and the other requirements are met. The Clerk may deny an application that is incomplete, inaccurate or false, seeks a license at a prohibited location, comes from an applicant whose current license is suspended or revoked, or comes from an applicant not qualified under the article. Denials may be appealed to the Board of Trustees. The Town's page lists documents such as a deed or assessor's page, proof of primary residence where it applies, and photos of life-safety items, and says to apply through its online licensing portal.

After the application requirements are met, a Building Department member schedules an in-person inspection, and the owner or property manager must be present, according to the Town's page. The page lists life-safety items to photograph: egress windows in each bedroom, smoke and CO alarms per the current building code, and fire extinguishers near cooking appliances, inside and outside. The code lets the Town make further inspections of licensed properties on 24 hours' advance notice to the license holder to respond to complaints or confirm ongoing compliance.

The maximum occupancy of every short-term rental is two persons per bedroom plus an additional two persons per property, and children under the age of five do not count. The Town's page words this as two persons per room plus two per property; the code's wording, per bedroom, is followed here.

The contact (the owner, a person the owner designates, or the owner's authorized agent) is responsible for compliance with Code provisions on the rental, including sales and lodging tax, parking areas, snow and ice removal, garbage and other property maintenance, and must take remedial action to resolve violations and complaints.

Each license carries a local license number for each short-term rental, and all advertisements must expressly specify the license number.

Each holder of a short-term rental license collects the tax and bears the burden of proving a transaction is not taxable. Sums collected are public money held in trust for the Town until paid to the Finance Director, who administers and enforces the tax. Unpaid tax can become a lien on the property. The license page says all short-term rental taxes are remitted monthly and that tax paid through Airbnb or VRBO is netted against the amount owed. The Town's FAQ says returns are due on the 20th of the month after the reporting period, with monthly, quarterly or annual filing depending on the tax amount, and that a return is due even when no tax is owed. Because the two pages differ and the code leaves frequency to the Finance Director, check the current filing basis with the Town Finance Department.

After August 1, 2022, operating a short-term rental in the Town without a license subjects the record owner to a $1,000 fine and the rental must cease immediately until a complete license application is submitted with all required fees and approved by the Town Clerk. A property that does not qualify for a license must stop operating as a short-term rental immediately. Penalties are collected as penalty assessments under the Code.

Grounds include failure to pay Town lodging tax or other required Town tax or fee, false statements in the application, failure to file required reports, violations of the article or other laws, building or safety violations not fixed to the Building Official's satisfaction within ten business days, and three complaints about occupancy, noise, safety or other disturbance within one year. The Town has no liability for lost reservations or revenue. An affected applicant or licensee may appeal to the Board of Trustees and then seek judicial review.

Colorado charges its 2.9% state sales tax on the entire amount charged for rooms and accommodations. A stay may also owe local sales taxes that the Colorado Department of Revenue collects for counties and special districts, and any sales tax of a home-rule city that collects its own tax (see below).

State sales tax does not apply to a room or accommodations rented to a person who is a permanent resident of it and has a written agreement to occupy it for at least 30 consecutive days. Shorter stays are taxed.

The Colorado Department of Revenue says anyone who offers rooms or accommodations for rent must get a Colorado sales tax license and collect sales tax on taxable rentals. A seller who makes sales only through a marketplace may be exempt from licensing, collection and filing if the marketplace collects all state and state-administered local sales taxes for them. The license costs $16 (prorated) plus a $50 deposit, a separate license is needed for each business location, and licenses expire on December 31 of odd-numbered years.

For rooms rented through a marketplace (including online platforms), the marketplace facilitator must collect and remit the state sales tax and the local sales taxes the state collects, plus any county lodging tax and local marketing district tax. City taxes in home-rule cities are separate (see below).

The Colorado Department of Revenue does not administer any lodging tax imposed by a city or town, and it does not collect sales tax for home-rule cities that collect their own. Those taxes are licensed, filed and paid with the city.

Colorado counties may add a county lodging tax, regional transportation authorities a visitor benefit tax, and local marketing districts a marketing tax on rooms subject to state sales tax. County lodging and visitor benefit taxes are filed quarterly with the Department of Revenue on form DR 1485; the Department's DR 1003 publication lists the rates.