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Tag: Affordable housing

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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FNBO invests $1.73M in Northern Colorado communities
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NorthFortyNews, Approved, Local

FNBO invests $1.73M in Northern Colorado communities

by North Forty News Staff | NorthFortyNews Northern Colorado nonprofits will see major support this year as First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO) awarded $305,000 in Impact Grants to 19 organizations across the region. The funding is part of FNBO’s $1.73 million in grants distributed to 90 nonprofits in eight states. The grants target FNBO’s three philanthropic pillars: affordable housing, workforce development, and financial literacy. Local organizations receiving funds include: Fort Collins Habitat for Humanity – $25,000 for affordable home construction. Greeley-Weld Habitat for Humanity – $20,000 for new homeownership opportunities. Housing Catalyst (Fort Collins) – $10,000 for community support and financial literacy workshops. Neighbor to Neighbor (Fort...
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Colorado Springs Community Partners Transform School Into Shelter for Homeless Families
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Local, Approved, The Gazette

Colorado Springs Community Partners Transform School Into Shelter for Homeless Families

By Debbie Kelley | The Gazette Children’s laughter again will fill the hallways of an old elementary school in the Hillside neighborhood that closed nine years ago, but the kids won’t be in classes, they’ll be right at home with their parents. Helen Hunt Elementary School at 601 S. Institute St. is now Hunt Family Housing, a 24-unit transitional apartment complex for parents and children exiting homelessness. “We think this will have a significant impact on reducing family homelessness in our community,” Andy Barton, CEO of Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, said at a grand opening and ribbon-cutting event Wednesday. The annual count of the homeless population in El Paso County that was released last month showed 62 children through age 17 living in emergency shelters on o...
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$277M in state funds go only to “pro-affordable housing” communities under Polis
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

$277M in state funds go only to “pro-affordable housing” communities under Polis

By Hannah Metzger | The Denver Gazette Gov. Jared Polis last week followed up on a May executive order that would limit hundreds of millions in state grants to only communities that adhere to new laws on housing, land use and parking restrictions. In May, the governor had threatened to pull at least $100 million in funding from local governments that have balked at the difficulty of implementing zoning, building codes, and other “affordable” housing changes pushed by the Colorado General Assembly over the last two years. The executive order defines noncompliance as a nonsatisfactory completion of requirements outlined in those laws, a local government adopting a resolution or policy not to conform with them, or acting contrary to the directives in those statutes. Polis hinted a...
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Study warns that short-term rentals are pricing out local residents
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The Aspen Times, Approved, State

Study warns that short-term rentals are pricing out local residents

By Robert Tann | The Aspen Times Home prices in Colorado’s mountain resort communities have skyrocketed over the past 13 years, with a new report further detailing the erosion of affordability for working residents.  A study released on Wednesday by the Colorado-based think tank Common Sense Institute shows home prices in seven Western Slope counties — Eagle, Garfield, Grand, Pitkin, Routt, San Miguel and Summit — have more than doubled or, in some cases, tripled since 2012.  The Common Sense Institute researches and promotes free-enterprise economic policy and bills itself as “nonpartisan.” Several of its board members, however, have ties to the Republican Party, and the organization has accepted funds from the conservative advocacy group Advance Colorado. The study bases...
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Colorado governor pressures local leaders to ease rules and build more homes
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The Center Square, Approved, State

Colorado governor pressures local leaders to ease rules and build more homes

By Elyse Apel | The Center Square (The Center Square) — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis updated an executive action to push more affordable housing for Colorado. This comes just months after he first issued the initial executive order. “We are building more housing now and breaking down government barriers to new homes. It is more important than ever to lower the cost of living,” Polis, a Democrat, said. “This action will lead to more housing that people can afford.” The amended executive order directed state agencies to prioritize grant funding to local communities that are “leading on the effort to create more housing that Coloradans can afford.”(The Center Square) — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis updated an executive action to push more affordable housing for Colora...
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