Durango’s arts and culture scene is growing stronger, thanks to the support of the Lodgers' Tax. Funding from the tax has brought new murals and sculptures to public spaces, supported events like the Cowboy Poetry Gathering, and provided financial backing for local artists, non-profits, and businesses. It’s not just about adding visual appeal—this tax is driving professional training, economic development, and creative opportunities that weren’t available before. The result is a thriving cultural community that enriches the city and supports its long-term growth. By Sadie Smith. This story is sponsored by Alpine Bank.
Hi, I'm Eric Eicher, employee, owner, and president of Alpine Bank Durango. At Alpine Bank, we believe in the power of community and connecting you with the resources you need to work, live, and play in our community. I hope you enjoy this edition of "Community Insights."
Booking a hotel in Durango does more than secure a room, it helps fund some of the city's most important projects. When people stay in Durango hotels, they pay a lodgers' tax, which is 5.25% of the room cost. That money is divided up. 55% goes to promoting sustainable tourism, 20% helps with transportation, 14% supports arts and culture, and the remaining 11% is set aside for city council projects.
Voters in 2021 approved an increase in lodgers' tax from 2% to 5.25%. We call this the good tax, because it's one that residents don't pay. This is a tax that's all from tourists, visitors that come into town, and it's that small 5.25% on the beds and the hotels where they stay.
Prior to the increase that occurred in 2021, the arts and culture spending received about $3 per capita. With the increase from 2% to 5.25%, the fund has increased to about $26 per capita annually.
With the increase of lodgers' tax, we now have a fund that has 500,000, roughly, distributed each year for the community, which put us at around $26 per head after that first year, which is solidly in the middle of the trajectory for Colorado's arts and culture funding per city.
The rise in funding recognizes the arts and culture communities need for more opportunities in economic development, professional training, and networking, filling gaps where resources that didn't exist before. The arts and culture program provides financial support to individuals, nonprofits, businesses, and key organizations that help enrich the community's cultural life. This funding supports everything from new murals and sculptures around Durango, to events like the Cowboy Poetry Gathering and art-related scholarships.
One of my favorites is The Magic City podcast. There are some journalists who worked at Maria's, Kirbie Bennett and Jamie Wanzek, and now, Adam Burke, who did this really intense journalistic study to tell Durango's untold stories and from a lot of marginalized communities that are left out of the textbooks. So they've created a podcast and this multimedia storytelling to really update that narrative and correct the narrative of who we are as Durangotans, what has shaped our history, and who are the people, who are strong players in that, but from a more equitable perspective. So these programs, I always like to say they're not just about aesthetics. We have increased a lot of opportunities for artists and muralists to get paid, to have kids in multiple age demographics be a part of these public art projects. But it's really more about the cultural impact and creating a cohesive economic system that can actually sustain the arts long term.
Arts and culture spending often faces skepticism with some questioning the value of the funds directed towards them. However, this funding supports essential community initiatives, creating lasting support for local businesses and the arts. The challenge lies in effectively marketing the program, showing it's about more than decorative art.
There will always be sort of a challenge to the meaning of art and its place in our broader society and teaching us to be humans. And I think a big challenge is making the argument, which is so strong that this funding is not just going towards aesthetics, it's not just going towards making things look pretty or gentrifying an area, it's going towards creating jobs, teaching people how to create sustainable businesses in their field of passion.
A full list of how the arts and culture fund have been allocated along with more details on the lodgers' tax can be found on the City of Durango's website. We're proud to present "Community Insights", powered by the Local News Network and sponsored by Alpine Bank. With "Community Insights", our mission is to foster a stronger and more connected community in La Plata County and beyond. For more information about this and other stories, visit durangolocal.news. Thank you for watching this edition of "Community Insights." I'm Sadie Smith.
