By Andrew Kenney | Denverite
Mayor Mike Johnston recently faced a tough question about his proposal to pay for affordable housing by raising taxes, and he appeared to get a significant fact wrong when he gave the answer.
The question was about Ballot Measure 2R, which would collect about $100 million a year by raising local sales taxes.
Paul Karolyi, a host of the City Cast Denver podcast, asked Johnston in an interview why he wanted to increase sales taxes. Sales taxes are regressive, meaning they have a greater proportional impact on lower-income people. Karolyi asked why the measure didn’t tax property owners instead.