The money has run dry for Summit County’s Lease to Locals program.
Since 2021, Lease to Locals has been paying homeowners to rent long-term instead of short-term. It was one of several solutions to the officially declared local housing crisis. Summit partnered with the town of Breckenridge to split the cost.
But this year’s county budget has no funding for Lease to Locals. The program was put on hold last year when it cost more than expected.
In a memo for today’s county commissioner meeting, staff says Lease to Locals was never meant to last forever.
The memo does not explain what this funding cut means for dozens of properties involved in the program, or the renters who rely on it to live locally.
The county did want to replace Lease to Locals with a “business master lease” program, where the county would partner with businesses instead of homeowners, similar its hotel master leasing program in Frisco and Silverthorne.
Now county staff is pumping the brakes on that concept too, saying, “Staff recommends that the board of county commissioners not move forward with the business master lease program at this time due its complexity, a lack of interested property managers, and a lack of interest and recommendations from employers in the county in participating in the program.”
In short: There’s no money left for Lease to Locals, and no interest in its replacement.