In March 2023, Keystone voted to become a Home Rule Town with a Charter and to elect nine Charter Commission Members who draft the Charter. On September 26, 2023, the citizens of Keystone, Colorado voted for their town to approve the proposed Home Rule Charter and become a home-rule municipality. This allows them to define specific aspects of their government structure, revenue collection (such as taxes, fees, rates, licenses, tolls, penalties, and charges), and rules for boards and commission rather than being bound by statutory rule of the state.
The Town of Keystone is holding an election January 30, 2024, to select a Town Council and Mayor. The Town Council will be responsible for ordinances, resolutions, and legislative actions as well as determining tax uses and increases. No tax rates will increase without prior voter approval in an election. The future Town Council has the ability to consider alternative funding sources (e.g., lift fees and lodging taxes) funded by visitors. The Charter indicates the current 2% county lodging tax that was imposed in January 2023 will expire and would require a vote to continue; however, no expiration date has been released. The Charter also states that significant sources of funding for the town would be from the current county sales tax and workforce housing tax.
The transition plan occurs during 2024 with the new elected Town Council actioning tasks to move the town to fully operational status by 2025. The town set its fiscal year to begin January 1 and end December 31. As of January 1, 2024, the Town of Keystone is not listed as a state-administered city sales tax or as a home rule city for which the state does not collect local sales tax while Summit County is a state-collected county sales tax. There is no sales tax rate set by Keystone at this time of transition. Businesses should monitor the anticipated changes with the Town of Keystone to be apprised of any impact to sales taxes or lodging taxes. (Home Rule Charter Commission of the Town of Keystone, Resolution 2023 – 05, June 2023)