On November 17th, 2017, DMMA started a series of email blasts to DM owners, inviting owners to express an opinion on rent restrictions at Desert Mountain. The first of these invitations went to the 2,800+ email addresses on record for the 2,050 distinct DM owners. Those who failed to open the initial email message received a second and then a third, up to 5 messages in all.
The survey was carefully crafted to set an emotional tone favoring rent restrictions. The instructions included evocative scenarios not possible and not supported by any facts:
• Stop an unending series
• Protect the tranquil lifestyle
• A haven for year-round party houses
• 365 different occupants of the house next door to you
• Carousel of non-acquaintance, short-stay renters
When survey responses were tabulated, DMMA announced that “78% of Desert Mountain owners favor rent restrictions”. This was a deep misrepresentation of survey results. A more accurate statement would be that 18% of DM parcel owners support some form of rent restriction. Here’s how that 18% was calculated.
Parsing the Survey Results
Official results provided by DMMA show that 997 of the 2,800+ invited to participate eventually responded. Doing the math, 64% of DM owners chose not to participate, even after 4 or 5 invitations.
Now let’s calculate how many DM parcel owners favored rent restrictions. Since 37% more survey invitations were sent than there are DM owners, it’s safe to assume that 37% of the 997 responses came from a second or third person associated with a particular DM parcel. Doing the math, (.67 times 997) we can estimate that survey results speak for about 667 DM owners. But there are 16% more parcels owned than there are owners. On average, DM owners hold title to 1.16 parcels (2,380 parcels divided by 2,050 owners). If this is true, we can assume the 667 owners who responded hold title to 774 parcels (667 times 1.16).
To convert survey responses into parcels represented, we’ll use the same procedure: Reduce the raw number by 37% (for multiple responses from a single parcel) and then multiply by 1.16 (to account for multiple parcel ownership). Then we’ll divide by 2,380, the number of parcels in Desert Mountain, to find the percentage of DM parcel owners in each category.
November 17, 2017 Survey Question and Results:
In principle, I support some version of a short-term rental restriction in Desert Mountain:
• Yes 573 or (573 x .63 x 1.16) 419 parcel owners which is 18% of DM’s 2,380 parcels.
• No 169 or (169 x .63 x 1.16) 124 parcel owners which is 5% of DM’s 2,380 parcels
• No Response 5
A more accurate statement about this survey would be:
In a November 2017 email survey of 997 Desert Mountain owners, 57% favored some form of short-term rent restrictions, 17% did not want any form of short-term rent restrictions. The remaining 26% did not complete the survey. Sixty-four percent of Desert Mountain owners chose not to participate.
Desert Mountain Homeowners Coalition 