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Tag: Affordable housing

Polis Signals Possible Clemency Review for Tina Peters as Final Year Begins
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CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Polis Signals Possible Clemency Review for Tina Peters as Final Year Begins

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado Gov. Jared Polis says he has an ambitious agenda for his final year in office. He's been full throttle since he was elected governor seven years ago, leading the state through COVID-19, two school shootings, and four of the most destructive wildfires in Colorado history. "It's hard to sprint. You sprint for 8 years, and that's always the way we've approached it. Our team -- we say we're running through the tape. We're running through the tape here," he said. As he nears the finish line, he is not only focused on the state budget and issues like affordable housing, but also which state prisoners should receive clemency. Among those who have asked the governor for a reduced sentence is former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peter...
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Six Colorado counties hike lodging taxes while two hold the line
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Six Colorado counties hike lodging taxes while two hold the line

By Rachael Wright | The Denver Gazette Six mountain communities across Colorado voted on Tuesday to raise their lodging taxes after the state legislature passed a bill allowing counties to triple such taxes and spend the money on a wider range of projects, including public infrastructure, childcare and housing for workers.  Lodging tax increases passed in Eagle, Gilpin, Hinsdale, Ouray, Routt and Park but failed in Chaffee and Custer counties. Rural mountain communities have struggled for years under the pressures of increased tourism. Supporters said the new state law would allow those communities to pass along some of their increased costs to visitors. Before the new law’s adoption, the tax revenue could be used only for tourism marketing and some worker housing. Some of...
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Colorado’s Local Control Eroded by State’s Energy and Housing Overreach
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s Local Control Eroded by State’s Energy and Housing Overreach

By: The Gazette Editorial Board | Commentary, The Denver Gazette What’s the common thread between Gov. Jared Polis’ roadmap to green energy and his agenda for affordable housing?  That is, aside from the fact each will backfire on the state’s economy in one or more ways.  The answer is that both steamroll local laws that are more in tune with the needs of their communities — in pursuit of pipe dreams.  One aims to eliminate all greenhouse gas emissions — when in fact Colorado has virtually no impact on global climate in the first place. The other seeks to create more affordable housing on a wing and a prayer, oblivious to how the housing market really works. A Gazette report last week on Polis’ mad dash to 100% renewable power generation and “net zero” carbon ...
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Colorado’s Housing Crunch Shows Signs of Easing but Costs Still Bite
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s Housing Crunch Shows Signs of Easing but Costs Still Bite

By The Gazette Editorial Board | Commentary, The Denver Gazette The cost of housing has soared in our state in recent years, outpacing income growth and making it especially challenging for lower-wage earners and younger, entry-level workers to afford rent. Buying a place of their own is an even taller task for many. It all has led to much public debate and, inevitably, hyperventilation by politicians pledging to solve what they have dubbed an affordable-housing “crisis.” The panic also has led to a lot of misfires by policymakers.  Among those are proposals that would put the squeeze on providers of rental housing, presuming them to have bottomless pockets. Rent control is an example. There also have been various policy prescriptions making it harder to evict tenants. Some o...
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Developers Target Sheridan RV Park, Residents Plead for City to Protect Homes
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kdvr.com, Approved, Local

Developers Target Sheridan RV Park, Residents Plead for City to Protect Homes

By: Anna Coon | KDVR FOX31 SHERIDAN, Colo. (KDVR) — More than 100 people could be forced to leave their homes in Sheridan if a proposed apartment complex project moves forward. An Indiana-based developer, The Garrett Companies, is vying to purchase the current site of Flying Saucer RV Park, a year-round park with more than 150 lots. If the deal closes, the park would be cleared out to make way for new housing. Many of the RV park’s residents have made the location their permanent home. “I just don’t know the answer as to what we would do if we received an eviction notice,” said Steve Ohlfest, who has lived at Flying Saucer RV Park for 20 years. Ohlfest spent 16 years in an RV before upgrading to a tiny home in 2021. “This is our dream home. This is our dream city,” said Ohlf...
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Garfield County uses $4.1 million in private activity bonds for affordable housing solutions
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Post Independent, Approved, Local

Garfield County uses $4.1 million in private activity bonds for affordable housing solutions

By Julianne O’Driscoll | Post Independent Garfield County commissioners voted unanimously Monday to allocate almost $4.1 million in private activity bonds to the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) to support local affordable housing projects. Private activity bonds are tax-exempt loans used to fund private development projects, according to the Colorado Division of Housing. Every year, the Internal Revenue Service assigns each state a private activity bond limit. Colorado then allocates the bonds to cities and counties based on area population. This year, Garfield County received a private activity bond cap of nearly $4.1 million based on a population count of 62,722.  Local governments decide how to use the bonds. Garfield County on Monday authorized the...
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Eagle County Faces Allegations of Blocking Affordable Housing in Ski Country
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Local, Approved, The Gazette

Eagle County Faces Allegations of Blocking Affordable Housing in Ski Country

By: David O. Williams | The Gazette EDWARDS • According to its own housing assessment, Eagle County needs nearly 6,400 affordable rental and for-sale housing units over the next 10 years to address current shortages and future labor growth. Given what one developer describes as its current broken policies, the county will never get there, he said. The resort county of more than 54,000 that’s home to the Vail and Beaver Creek ski areas is made up of more than 80% federally owned public lands, meaning there’s fierce competition for a limited supply of highly desirable private land for both free-market and subsidized housing. Matt Larson of Denver-based Rediger Development has family ties to the Vail area and experience building both high-end homes and trying to build affordable hous...
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Arvada rolls $8M affordable housing bond into 2026 after developers show no interest
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Colorado Politics, Approved, Local

Arvada rolls $8M affordable housing bond into 2026 after developers show no interest

By Sage Kelley | Colorado Politics The Arvada City Council voted to roll the city’s nearly $8 million bond into 2026 to potentially help create large-scale affordable housing amidst shortages throughout the region. The council met with the city’s Housing Manager Carrie Espinosa on Tuesday to discuss how the city should move forward with the 2025 Private Activity Bond, ultimately voting 4-1 to combine it with next year’s funds. Arvada received $7.9 million of private activity bonds from the State of Colorado Department of Local Affairs for 2025, with the intention to use the bonds to support private or public developers in making an affordable housing project. According to the request for proposal, affordable was defined as housing costs that are less than 30% of gross income fo...
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Section 8 Pays Colorado Rents Near $4,000 Per Month as Critics Call for Reform
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State, Approved, The Center Square

Section 8 Pays Colorado Rents Near $4,000 Per Month as Critics Call for Reform

By Kenneth Schrupp | The Center Square (The Center Square) - Taxpayers are covering rents of up to $3,879 per month in Colorado, leading taxpayer advocates to question the growing duration of federal Section 8 housing choice voucher (HCV) usage. "Section 8 needs to focus on lifting people out of the trap of poverty, not putting them into the lap of luxury," said National Taxpayers Union president Pete Sepp in an interview with The Center Square. "It's unfair to ask taxpayers who can't afford mortgages or rents of nearly $4,000 per month to foot the bill for subsidies amounting to that much." HCV recipients remain in the program for an average of 15.1 years – that’s up from an average of 12.4 years in 2000, according to a 2024 federal report. When asked about a 2026 budget propo...
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Colorado’s green building code mandates drive up housing costs and do little for the climate
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ScottKJames.com, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s green building code mandates drive up housing costs and do little for the climate

By Scott K. James | Commentary, Scott K. James New ‘green’ building code mandates in Colorado reek of virtue signaling, drive up housing costs, and do jack squat for the environment. The Denver Post recently dropped a fun little read about how Colorado’s unelected bureaucrats have found yet another way to make housing completely unaffordable while pretending they’re saving the planet. The Colorado Legislature cedes authority to unelected bureaucrats in the Colorado Energy Office (CEO) to whip out new codes. The Denver Post piece highlights how the CEO has done just that, and – viola – Colorado will now require cities and counties to adopt updated building codes focused on cutting emissions – because if there’s one thing this housing market needed, it was more ...
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