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Teton Village businesses, including Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, are asking electeds to avoid an up-to 2% hotel tax hike.
Meghan Quinn, who runs the Teton Village Association and Teton Village Resort District, asked town and county electeds in an Oct. 6 joint meeting to exempt rooms near the resort.
That’s in the case that electeds ask voters to approve of the change next fall. Quinn worries higher prices could drive visitors to resorts in Utah or California.
“It’s a competitive disadvantage,” Quinn said. “I think that everybody in this room would say that Teton Village is a large economic driver, particularly in the winter season for the county.”
Quinn is looking at the larger proposed pie.
Already, tourists pay a 5% tax to sleep in Teton County. Guests near the base of the area’s largest ski resort pay an additional 2% resort tax. The county-wide 7% sales tax brings the resort area tax to 14%.
Each percentage point of the tax currently brings in just less than $2.5 million annually, split between the town and county, according to a staff report.
Ty Hoath, the chief administrative officer of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, also warned skiers would be watching their bills closely.
“They’re actually more price sensitive than you would think,” Hoath said. “It’s not particularly luxury travelers that would be looking at this tax percentage, although they are.”
Not everyone sees the tax as a bust.
Portions of the revenue from the additional resort tax help fund government and nonprofit services. Three cents of the tax goes directly to the state, mostly to the tourism office.
These serve tourists and alleviate the impacts of tourism. The benefiting government operations include Parks and Recreation, Fire/EMS, and START bus. Especially after state legislators cut residential property taxes this year, Teton County and the Town of Jackson are hurting for cash, outspending their tax intake.
Jackson Mayor Arne Jorgensen said it was “no secret” that he wants to see a 2% county-wide increase on the ballot in next year’s general election.
“We don’t get to choose [whether] we live in Utah or Colorado, where there are much more robust ways to fund demand on local services,” Jorgensen said.
This year, the town voted to rush the item in a 2025 special election, then reversed course after consulting with county commissioners and determining it was too soon.
Electeds could vote on whether to move forward with a 2026 ballot item in the next few months.
