A buyer comparing Keystone to Breckenridge usually runs the same math. Check the price per square foot. Check the HOA dues. Check the short-term rental tax rate, which at 8.375 percent is the lowest in Summit County, with no cap on new licenses and a $285 annual fee that expires every September 30. On paper, Keystone looks like the value play.

None of that number changes what happens at the closing table inside nine specific Keystone neighborhoods, where a private homeowners association collects two percent of the purchase price before the deed records. On a $1,000,000 condo, that is $20,000. It does not appear on the MLS listing's HOA dues line, and it has nothing to do with the Town of Keystone, which incorporated in February 2024 after voters approved it the year before.

The Fee Belongs to a Company, Not a Town

The Keystone Neighbourhood Company, known locally as the KNC, is a master homeowners association that has run River Run Village and its surrounding neighborhoods for decades. According to the KNC's own description of its operations, it maintains sidewalks, roads and boardwalks, provides security and special events, and oversees Warren Station Center for the Arts, functioning in practice like a town government for the areas it covers even though Keystone itself only recently became one.

The KNC's Real Estate Transfer Assessment, called RETA, is equal to two percent of the transaction's market value and is collected every time title changes hands. It applies to residential, commercial and vacant land within nine named neighborhoods:

• River Run Village
• Ski Tip Ranch
• Trappers Crossing
• The Alders Neighbourhoods
• River Meadows
• Settlers Creek Neighbourhoods
• River Run Townhomes
• Lone Eagle
• Timbers Lodges

Buy outside those nine, in parts of unincorporated Summit County that carry the Keystone name but sit outside the KNC's declaration, and RETA does not apply at all. That distinction rarely shows up in a listing description, which is exactly why it needs to be confirmed before an offer goes in.

What Two Percent Actually Funds

RETA is a one-time charge at closing. Separately, the KNC also levies an Annual Real Estate Assessment, called AREA, based on the property's county-assessed valuation. AREA is a recurring cost that does not appear in the HOA dues figure most buyers check on a listing sheet, and it funds the day-to-day operations RETA doesn't: road and pathway maintenance, snow removal, security, community events and Warren Station programming.

The rate itself is not standard across Summit County. Silverthorne runs a comparable structure on select developments through its own town government, but assesses it at 1 percent, half the rate the KNC charges in Keystone's resort core. A buyer treating "RETA" as a fixed regional number will underprice a Keystone acquisition and overprice a Silverthorne one.

Who Sets the Rate

The KNC is governed by a nine-seat board. According to the company's own November 2025 annual members' meeting minutes, Vail Resorts holds five of those nine seats while contributing roughly 10 percent of the dues that fund the organization. One owner's objection, recorded in those same minutes, put it plainly: owners cannot change anything because of the vote distribution, which is very unfair.

The same minutes show why the stakes are rising. With new units at the Kindred Resort closing, KNC leadership told owners that RETA revenue tied to Kindred sales is expected to increase, with one board member noting Vail Resorts receives roughly $6 million a year in revenue it can direct. Leadership also told owners that despite this increase, the AREA and RETA rates themselves are expected to remain flat, at least for now. That is a useful data point for anyone modeling ownership costs five years out, but it is a projection recorded at one meeting, not a rate locked by ordinance.

An Overlap Nobody Has Resolved

Keystone's 2024 incorporation created a second layer of local governance running alongside the KNC. The town now issues its own short-term rental licenses, collects its own 2 percent lodging tax, and sets policy the KNC has never had authority over. At that same November 2025 meeting, an owner suggested the KNC board approach the town about taking over some or all of the KNC's current functions. The board's response, per the minutes, was that the town is still deciding where it will take over responsibilities and has not yet moved beyond road repair.

That means the entity collecting a 2 percent fee at your closing and an annual assessment on top of it is a private corporation whose long-term role in Keystone is still being negotiated with the municipal government that now exists beside it. A buyer signing a contract today is transacting under the current arrangement, not a settled one.

What to Confirm Before You Write an Offer

A few questions answer whether RETA and AREA apply to a specific property, and what they will cost:

• Does the parcel sit within one of the nine KNC-governed neighborhoods, or in an adjacent Keystone-area property outside the declaration?
• What is the current AREA amount for this specific unit, based on its county-assessed valuation, since it will not appear in the HOA dues line on the listing?
• Who is customarily paying RETA in this contract, buyer or seller, since it is negotiable in Colorado's standard purchase agreement even where local custom leans one way?
• For an investment purchase, how does RETA change the net acquisition cost against Keystone's 8.375 percent STR tax rate compared with a Breckenridge or Silverthorne property carrying different transfer and lodging tax structures?

None of these questions are visible from a listing sheet. All of them are answerable before an offer is written, and all of them change the real number a buyer is comparing against other Summit County resort properties.

FAQ

Does every property in Keystone pay the KNC RETA? No. It applies only within the nine named neighborhoods governed by the KNC's declaration. Properties outside those boundaries, even ones using the Keystone name, are not subject to it.

Is RETA the same thing as a government transfer tax? No. It is a private assessment created through the KNC's covenants, collected by the homeowners association rather than a municipal tax authority. The Town of Keystone's only currently implemented tax is its 2 percent lodging tax on short-term stays.

Will the RETA rate stay at 2 percent? As of the KNC's November 2025 annual meeting, leadership indicated the rate is expected to remain flat even with rising Kindred-related revenue. That is the most recent public statement on the subject, not a guarantee written into ordinance.

How does this compare to Silverthorne? Silverthorne applies a similar transfer assessment on select developments through its town government, but at 1 percent, half the KNC's rate in Keystone's resort neighborhoods.

Before you compare a Keystone listing to anything else in Summit County, confirm whether the address sits inside one of the nine KNC neighborhoods and what the current AREA figure runs on that specific unit. Cirillo Group checks KNC declaration status on every Keystone offer before it goes to the seller, so the number you are underwriting against is the real one.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.