Mountain Perspectives

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.

Apparently, everyone looking for love is tired of the apps, because the No Swipe Social interactive dating game, hosted at the Crystal Theatre on Feb. 12, completely sold out. Fresh suitors and contestants rotated for four rounds, culminating in a winning pair at the end of the night. From fun lines of questioning to riotous games — such as a not-my-arms challenge where one partner raced to peel an orange and stuff it in the other’s mouth — made for a lot of laughs and wholesome connections. And not only has the winning duo been on a date since, according to organizer and emcee Aubree Schiesser, but as have several others who attended, including herself. “I don’t know about love right now. It was just last week,” Schiesser told The Sun. “But there are definite interests brewing.”

Tune into Everything Under The Sun on KDNK this Thursday, Feb. 19 at 4pm to hear more about how it went. And stay tuned for the next one by following @no.swipe.social on Instagram

In mid-January, The Sopris Sun received an anonymous tip from a resident at the Crystal Meadows retirement community describing that a neighbor’s truck had been broken into. Several days later, a Carbondale Police press release detailed multiple break-ins of vehicles and residences at River Valley Ranch. This followed another press release from mid-December about the arrest of an individual who had burglarized a home with the owner present earlier that month.

These reports have led many to wonder if crime is on the rise in our little town – especially since many old-timers remember never locking doors and leaving keys in vehicles. The Sun recently sat down with Carbondale Police Chief Kirk Wilson to get his perspective.

Wilson, who took over as chief from Gene Schilling in November 2020, told The Sun, “Overall, crime is stable; it’s not increasing rapidly, it’s not decreasing.” With the growing number of people in town, “We’re seeing more and more quality-of-life type of calls for service,” such as parking (“a huge issue”) and altercations with pets, “as opposed to big crimes.” The town does not “get many violent confrontations, though when we do, they get a lot of media attention.”

Traffic is another “big issue,” especially the greater number of vehicles on Hwy 133. “When 133 gets plugged up … people use 8th, Hendrick or Snowmass as bypass routes,” with more calls from residents on those streets.

When asked about an apparent significant increase in drivers ignoring stop signs, Wilson agreed, acknowledging that rolling the signs is “becoming commonplace” these days. Noting that Carbondale has an aging population and enjoys its reputation as a “walkable town,” he said that officers try to address this and other situations (e.g., dogs off leash or pedestrian-bicycle encounters) as safety issues. “Our job overall is to seek compliance with the people’s, behavior.” His philosophy: “Interact with our public, educate the public, enforce the law.” In that order.

Wilson emphasized that the police try to “tailor the way that we enforce, the way that we communicate with people, to a way that this community really wants us to … to keep safety at the forefront of everyone’s mind.” He did acknowledge, though, that “proactive enforcement has fallen behind” since losing the force’s municipal officer last summer.

When asked if there had been any changes in criminal activity at big town events like Mountain Fair or Dandelion Day, Wilson indicated that the department had not seen any. He did mention, without going into detail, that his goal is for an “increase in actual public safety, with no one even noticing it’s taking place.”

Wilson was particularly concerned about vehicle-pedestrian altercations, given how many outside events take place in Carbondale, citing the deadly incident in New Orleans on New Year’s Day 2025. He said, “We have to plan for how to mitigate these things,” adding that they are working to “minimize the obvious low-hanging-fruit risks” by using planter barricades and other measures.

Finally, the chief was asked about any actual or potential activity by Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Patrol agents in the area, especially given our large Latino population. He said he knew of only one arrest, on Rte. 82 near Carbondale. Although he was not at liberty to explain further, he mentioned ongoing discussions within the department and with others regarding the perception of the police if federal agents carry out operations here. He strongly emphasized, “We’re not enforcing [federal] immigration law, period.” In fact, he mentioned efforts to help staff and family members obtain U.S. citizenship. He wanted people to be clear about the distinctions between local, state and federal jurisdictional responsibilities.

One last issue that Wilson wanted to touch on was the strong esprit de corps in the department. Personnel may leave to go elsewhere, but they often come back. “It says a lot about our community, it says a lot about our particular organization … and also a little bit about our leadership – not me.” He noted efforts with Lieut. Bill Kirkland to “make sure our officers here know that they are family, that they’re supported, that their personal lives matter to us.” He described programs to “make our officers feel and know that the department and the town [are] interested in their well-being. … Because it benefits everyone.”