Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

Tag: Cost of Living

Xcel Reports $903 Million Colorado Profit While Seeking Higher Electric And Gas Rates
No Comments
The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Xcel Reports $903 Million Colorado Profit While Seeking Higher Electric And Gas Rates

By Mark Jaffe | The Colorado Sun On Feb. 18, the PUC also approved 4,100 MW of new generation — a mix of wind, solar, natural gas and storage — to be fast-tracked in an effort to get federal tax credits before they expire. The proposed gas rate increase would raise gas customers’ bills by an average $7.59 to $74.41 a month to pay for safety improvements, meet rising operating and maintenance costs and provide investor returns. The electricity rate increase Xcel Energy is seeking would raise bills about 10% to $110 a month to recover infrastructure investments, operating costs and lost revenue sources. “Enough is enough. Coloradans are being crushed under the weight of gas and power bills that get bigger every year,” Sarah Tresedder, senior climate and energy o...
Read More
At Durango forum, GOP candidates field rotating questions submitted from across Colorado
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

At Durango forum, GOP candidates field rotating questions submitted from across Colorado

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Instead of posing the same question to an entire panel and allowing candidates to respond in sequence, organizers of the Feb. 13 Republican candidate forum in Durango tried something different. For the most part, candidates received different questions in turn. There wasn’t much room to sit back and think through an answer while someone else talked. Once your name was called, it was your turn.  VFW Post 4031 hosted the event, with RMV, Southwest Republican Women and the La Plata County Republican Central Committee working together to put it on. Clark Craig emceed the evening, and local GOP members Lisa Zimmerman and Amber Morris helped organize it. JJ McKinzie joined the Secretary of State panel shortly before t...
Read More
Colorado’s immigration folly: Taxpayer dollars fueling a broken system
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s immigration folly: Taxpayer dollars fueling a broken system

By Rep. Ken DeGraaf | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice As the state representative from House District 22 in Colorado Springs, I see daily how federal immigration enforcement and state policies affect families in El Paso County. President Trump’s 2024 reelection brought a secured southern border after the Biden era’s chaos, when 8 to 11 million people entered illegally—the largest surge in U.S. history.  That influx overwhelmed communities nationwide, including Colorado. While federal policy now prioritizes removing criminal aliens, Colorado Democrats have enacted legislation that rewards illegal immigration with generous taxpayer-funded benefits, all while ignoring the burden on law-abiding citizens. Deportation data from 1993 to 2022 show enforcement is bi...
Read More
Colorado’s political shift meets a population reality check
No Comments
the Aspen beat, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado’s political shift meets a population reality check

By Glenn K. Beaton | Commentary, the Aspen beat Last year, more people moved out of Colorado to other states than vice versa. Interstate “net migration” was negative. After factoring in births, the state’s overall population increased less than half a percent. That’s the lowest since the oil and gas bust of 1989 nearly a half century ago. These figures put Colorado in the bottom half of population growth. We’re 29th of the 50 states. Neighboring Utah grew at the fifth-highest rate, so Colorado can’t blame it on the demise of the carbon-spewing, environment-wrecking, injury-causing, traffic-jamming ski industry which is mired in a record snow drought. Colorado used to be cool. It was young, vibrant, virile. Colorado often led the nation in th...
Read More
More People Are Leaving Colorado as High Costs and Regulations Take Toll
No Comments
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

More People Are Leaving Colorado as High Costs and Regulations Take Toll

By Vince Bzdek | Colorado Politics It’s finally happened. Buried in all the self-congratulatory reports about Colorado reaching the 6 million mark in population last year was news that should be keeping our political leaders up at night. For the first time in 20 years, more people left Colorado to go to other states than moved here from elsewhere in the country, 12,100 more. “More outs than ins,” the state demographer’s office said in a statement. I’ve been dreading this moment for years. Colorado’s total net migration – the number of people coming here versus the number of people leaving – has dropped by over 50% from 2015 to 2025. That means Colorado’s population growth has now slowed to its lowest level since 1989, according to the state demographer...
Read More
Colorado Homeowners Face Property Tax Shock After Temporary Relief Expires
No Comments
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Homeowners Face Property Tax Shock After Temporary Relief Expires

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics Mike Fitz, 76, who lives in Centennial in a single-family home he has owned since 2001, paid $3,876.98 in property taxes to Arapahoe County two years ago. Fitz just learned after checking the website of the Arapahoe County Assessor’s Office that his 2026 tax bill has shot up to $5,435.47, and that already factors in a discount of $750 for the senior homestead exemption. That translates to an increase of nearly 30% or more than $1,500 over two years for the Colorado resident on a fixed income from a combination of Social Security payments and a pension from Gates Rubber. Indeed, the new year is bringing sticker shock to many Colorado homeowners like Fitz — property taxes are rising and some will see increases ranging from ...
Read More
When “affordable housing” means government-funded housing in Colorado
No Comments
Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, State

When “affordable housing” means government-funded housing in Colorado

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Volker Housing, Part 1 During one of my public notice crawls for Logan County/Sterling, there was a notice about a developer applying for a grant from the state to turn an empty parcel of land into an affordable housing development. That notice in full can be found in the first link below, but the pertinent bit is quoted here: “Volker Housing Partners, LLC will submit an application to the Colorado Division of Housing (DOH). The purpose of this application is to request up to $2,000,000 in funding to develop 54 rental homes at 777 N 4th Street in Sterling, CO. “ A reader sent me an email and suggested that I look in on this company a little, and I agreed. If they’re pulling down $2 million, wha...
Read More
Colorado GOP Debates Strategy to Win Governor’s Seat After Two Decades of Losses
No Comments
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado GOP Debates Strategy to Win Governor’s Seat After Two Decades of Losses

By: Thelma Grimes | Colorado Politics Colorado has not elected a Republican governor since 2002. On Thursday night, four candidates offered competing visions for how the party can reverse its 20-plus years of failing to secure the seat. The discussion hosted by the Women of Weld County touched on electability, affordability, housing, and how a Republican governor would work with the Trump administration. While 20 candidates are vying to win their party’s primary contest, only four attended the debate: Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, Joshua Griffin, Joe Oltmann and Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell. Colorado’s last Republican governor was Bill Owens. The state is now considered by many to be solidly blue. Gov. Jared Polis, the current governor, won reelection i...
Read More
Poll Shows Coloradans Want the Center, But Democrats Focused on Progressive Agenda
No Comments
Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State, Uncategorized

Poll Shows Coloradans Want the Center, But Democrats Focused on Progressive Agenda

By Mark Hillman | Complete Colorado The Colorado General Assembly returns for its annual 120-day session on Jan. 14, evoking a four-month visceral cringe from Coloradans who dread the next round of legislative fiats certain to be imposed upon us. Coloradans are in a restless mood lately.  It’s no secret a majority of Colorado voters has little affection for President Trump, but they’re not exactly cheerleaders for Democrats either. A December poll by Keating Research, which often works with Democrat clients, found disapproval of the Colorado Democratic Party at 55% – only slightly better than the 58% disapproval of Colorado Republicans. A majority said Colorado is headed in the wrong direction and expressed little confidence in the state legislature, w...
Read More
Colorado Democrats Push Plan That Threatens Future TABOR Refunds
No Comments
CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Democrats Push Plan That Threatens Future TABOR Refunds

State lawmakers will gavel in the 2026 legislative session Wednesday and the budget will once again dominate debate. By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado The general fund is $850 million in the hole and it could get worse as the Trump Administration threatens to freeze hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to Colorado. Despite the dire fiscal outlook, Democratic leadership made it clear they won't cave to pressure from the federal government. "It is going to be a powerful session. We will be standing up to Washington," said Speaker of the House Julie McCluskie.By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT CBS COLORADO
Read More