Commissioner Tim Redmond, a Democrat, and Republican challenger Tracy Lawton each accepted that housing is an issue in Routt County, before sharing how they want to address it.
Both candidates in the district three race for Routt County Commissioner accepted the premise that Routt County is in a housing crisis on Thursday night.
The question — asked at Steamboat Pilot & Today’s candidate forum at Colorado Mountain College — specifically noted that Steamboat Springs’ housing issues are impacting surrounding communities that have historically been more affordable, but are no longer that way.
Incumbent Commissioner Tim Redmond, a Democrat, said he believes the community needs to work together to allow “starter homes again,” noting that many builders have been mainly putting up luxury structures.
“We have been building a lot of higher end homes and now realize we need an inventory of starter homes,” said Redmond, who joined the forum virtually from Washington D.C. “I think we’re going to see some of that start to happen.”
Republican Tracy Lawton said affordable housing is one of the reasons he wanted to get into the commissioner race. In his response, Lawton said he felt there needed to be a clear definition of what “affordable housing” actually means, saying that he gets “frustrated” when he hears the phrase.
“Don’t just say we’re building affordable homes because they are never affordable. They’re $400,000, $500,000 homes that people can’t afford,” Lawton said. “[If they make] from $50,000 to $80,000 a year, they can’t afford these kinds of homes. … When we say affordable housing, what does that mean? How much is that? Give us a number; let’s not guess at this.”
Lawton said for some people, living in communities like Craig or Yampa and commuting longer distances works, but that others want to be closer to their jobs.
“I get frustrated when I hear affordable housing — it’s never been affordable,” Lawton said. “For people who don’t want to travel that far or have a family, they want to be closer to their job, they want to be closer to home. That’s the main thing that we need to work on is what affordable housing means.”
Redmond said there has been a lot of pressure on the local hosing market, noting that that before he was a commissioner there were 2,200 square foot homes selling in Hayden for $325,000.
“Cost of building materials are through the roof; that’s why I’m investigating the mass timber industry,” Redmond said, pointing at two potential housing projects in Steamboat Springs using mass timber. “We have got to keep looking at new technologies and new ways to bring the cost of living down to make the American dream the American dream.
What can Commissioners do to lower property taxes?
One question pointed to special districts that commissioners have control over, each of which opted not to reduce mill levies in light of steep property valuation increases. These districts help fund the county’s museums, Horizons and the purchase for development rights program.
Redmond defended the Commissioners’ decision not to lower mill levies, saying that after bringing each organization before the commissioners to explain how they would use the money, he believed the extra property tax revenue would help make the districts “strong into the future.”
“We went to all three of the special districts and asked them to come before us as county commissioners and justify how that money would be used, and if they could not justify it, ask that they consider returning some of that money,” Redmond said.
Redmond added that each of these special districts are voter approved at their current level and are supporting important services.
“Yes, we could have taken minimal amounts of money back from those special districts, but for what they provide to our county we decided that was the best, to let them keep that money,” Redmond said. “It would have been pennies on the dollar for each individual citizen.”
Lawton didn’t speak specifically to the special districts, instead saying that generally he feels property taxes are going “through the roof,” and that assessment values is part of the problem.
“The problem is in Routt County is we assess these things for maybe more than the property value is worth, or what we think it should be worth, and our property taxes continue to rise,” Lawton said. “When we assess properties, we don’t have to go in there and say, ‘Hey, this place is worth $5 million dollars.’ Perhaps it’s not, perhaps it is, but we need to take a look at those kinds of things.”
Property values are assessed for the purposes of property taxes by elected county assessors, not county commissioners. Routt County Assessor Gary Peterson, a Republican, is required to assess property values based on methods outlined in state law.
Lawton added that he feels Routt County taxpayers are ‘nickel and dimed to death on everything,’ explaining that while each tax may seem small, collectively they are meaningful for property owners.
“We need to get in there, we need to tear these things apart a little bit,” Lawton said. “I’m not a tax guy. I don’t think people should be getting taxed for things that they may not even be able to have.”
Pedestrian crossing west of Steamboat
Each candidate said they wanted to find a solution to make it safer for children who live in neighborhoods across U.S. 40 from Sleeping Giant School to get to school.
Families, particularly in the Heritage Park subdivision have been pointing to the need for a crossing of some kind since before the school opened, with some telling county officials that their children have used a culvert to safely cross under the road.
Lawton said he drives that corridor everyday and he is seeing it become increasingly dangerous. He attributed some of the issues to traffic backing up at the stoplight on County Road 42.
“An underpass or an overpass is a great idea, but anytime we need to do anything with highways or roads or anything like that … we need to think of the safety for everything,” Lawton said, adding that a crosswalk with flashing lights may be a workable solution as well. “A lot of that stuff would help if we actually had affordable housing right here, closer to Steamboat to alleviate a lot of that traffic that we have coming from Craig.”
Redmond said that not only do commissioners have a role here, but that he has been advocating for a solution already.
“It’s not what role can [commissioners] play, it’s what role are we playing,” Redmond said, saying that he has worked with a citizen group pushing for a solution. “There is going to be a need to look at possibly an underpass, and when we’re talking our children’s, our family’s lives, yes, that has to happen and it will happen.”
Top Photo Caption: Republican Tracy Lawton, seated, and Commissioner Tim Redmond, a Democrat, listen to a question at Steamboat Pilot & Today's candidate forum on Thursday. (Dylan Anderson/The Yampa Valley Bugle)