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The first writers on "community" underscored the importance of reciprocity, the notion that "you get what you give." Especially in rural communities where neighbors depended on neighbors to raise barns or help harvest crops in times of illness, reciprocity is the very foundation of trust and social ties that sustain a community, even a society.

Every Memorial Day, we honor veterans who have given far more than others, adding immense value to our lives. Likewise, we are grateful to the voluntary associations and their volunteers, such as Strings Music Festival, the Rotary Club, the Community Agriculture Alliance, the Steamboat Springs Arts Council, the Yampa River Botanic Park and Historic Routt County. Were it not for the voluntary efforts of Friends of the Yampa, we would not have the Yampa River Festival or the River In-Channel Diversion nonconsumptive water rights. Steamboat residents know many examples. Just last week, 150 volunteers gave their time and energy to the 13th annual United Way Day of Caring.

The voluntary associations of our community grow from the soil of private initiative to explore mutual interests. They do not owe their existence to government or to the private sector, yet they enrich our lives and the greater community. Our neighbors have given so much, and often we reciprocate.

This is why Steamboat Springs and Yampa Valley are so precious to us. Without the gifts of so many, the "brand" of Steamboat Springs would not attract and retain so many residents. This is the essence of community, and it feeds the housing demand.

Fairness, affordable housing

Thus, when I hear community housing policies put an "unfair burden" on the development community, I examine that argument very carefully.

Sure, I personally wish there were a hybrid property-sales tax so all residents could contribute to the creation of permanently affordable housing for the people who educate, nurse, protect and serve the children, the ill, the disabled, the victimized of our neighbors, i.e., the greater good of the whole community. However, even though we don't have a hybrid property-sales tax, developers benefit handsomely from Steamboat's practice of the norm of reciprocity.

Recently, during a discussion of payment-in-lieu - a policy mechanism to create revenue for land and housing for those whose wages and salaries are far outstripped by the exponential increase in housing costs - I heard one participant say, "Inclusionary zoning and linkage are just not fair." Later, I heard another participant say, "What's fair usually means what's best for me."

The calculus of the community-minded person does not stop at their self-interest or their bottom line. Thus, in exchange for permission to build in our community - a community whose value is so high because people have given immense value throughout the decades - I believe it is fair to expect developers to give a small portion of their total profit margin to the community for affordable housing. I have heard others estimate that affordable housing at a 15 percent mitigation rate equates to about 2 to 4 percent of the total return on investment. On the pro formas developers have shown me, they expect a 125 percent return on investment.

During the past two decades, 17 other Colorado governmental entities have implemented affordable housing policies similar to ours. Many are counties with mountain resort communities. What the 2005-07 Steamboat Springs City Council did was merely standard practice in Blaine County, Idaho; Mono County, Calif.; Teton County, Wyo.; and in Eagle County, San Miguel County and Gunnison County, for example. More than 100 California communities have had very similar affordable housing policies for two decades. A 15 percent rate of mitigation is among the very lowest. Crested Butte's affordable housing rate is 61 percent, matching the percentage of workers who lived in the community when policies were first passed.

Yet, the Routt County Board of Commissioners has not taken action on affordable housing. The need for affordable housing is a regional issue, an employers' problem, and an issue the whole community must address. But let us all observe the norm of reciprocity. If developers think our policies are unfair, they should consider developing in other communities. Or they could be thankful their neighbors have developed a community in which people want to live and prosper. When the economy recovers, they could "pay back" with gratitude and reciprocate with 2 to 4 percent of their total return on investment. Everyone should give so they get. Everyone who gets should give back.

Aigner is executive director of the Community Alliance of the Yampa Valley.