The New Mexico Short-Term Rental Association is advocating against Santa Fe County’s effort to change the tax classification of short-term rentals from residential to non-residential. Should this occur, STR owners will lose the 3% residential cap, and your properties could see up to a 30% increase in property taxes in one year.
Several of our board members attended the Santa Fe County Tax Assessor’s technical support meeting in late November, and it is clear the Santa Fe County Assessor intends to move forward with this property tax reclassification of non-owner occupied STRs.(Non-Owner meaning you do not reside in your home the majority of the annual year)
The community hopes that current litigation will have some bearing on this, and other community stakeholders are advising waiting until the end of the month to mail in your survey in hopes litigation will stop the action before the survey deadline. However, when the SFSTRA attended the tax assessor technical support meeting with County Tax Assessor Isaiah Romero, he stated that anyone who does not return the survey by the deadline would face an automatic market re-evaluation and reclassification to non-residential. This market revaluation and reclassification will result in financial hardship for many and may drive STRs out of business, thus reducing the tax base instead of increasing it.
Make Your Voice Heard!
- Contact State & County Officials: It’s important that all Santa Fe and County hosts and owners to make their voices heard and tell officials to stop moving forward on this change of tax classification that will undoubtedly cause financial harm to nonowner-occupied STR hosts.
- Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, email form, (505) 476-2200
- Secretary of Tax & Revenue, Stephanie Schardin Clarke, StephanieS.Clarke@state.nm.us, (505) 827-0700
- County Tax Assessor, Isiah F. Romero, assessor@santafecountynm.gov, 505-986-6300
- Contact Your State Legislatures: Let them know you do not support this re-classification and that STRs have always been considered residential in use, and this action will cause financial harm to nonowner-occupied STR Hosts
- Keep an eye out for future public outreach meetings from the County Assessor’s Office, here >(Next outreach meeting is scheduled for Feb. 3 at 10:30 a.m. in Eldorado, NM)