Colorado Affordable Housing Law Could Cut Off Funding to Most Cities Without Urgent Fix

By Brian Eason | The Colorado Sun

The vast majority of local governments in Colorado could be barred from receiving affordable housing funding through Proposition 123 for the next three years unless the state legislature steps in to prevent it.

The problem stems from a provision in the 2022 ballot measure that was designed to hold local governments accountable for increasing the supply of affordable housing. To remain eligible for the $350 million a year that the measure generates, cities and counties must show that they’re increasing their local supply of affordable housing by 3% a year.

But housing advocates — including those who wrote the ballot measure — say the requirement approved by voters has proved impossible for some communities to meet.

And, if lawmakers don’t pass a bill to change the rules, a provision designed to incentivize affordable housing could have the opposite effect: Upward of 90% of local governments enrolled in Proposition 123 could be disqualified from the three-year funding cycle that starts Jan. 1 because they aren’t meeting the 3% annual target.

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