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— Multifamily Properties Quarterly — October 2015
O
n July 20, during his inaugural
address, Denver Mayor Michael
Hancock announced the next
step in Denver’s commitment
to affordable housing – dedicat-
ing at least $15 million a year in new
funding to preserve and build at least
6,000 additional affordable homes over
the next 10 years, as well as a package
of aggressive policies. Councilpersons
Robin Kniech and Albus Brooks are
working alongside Hancock to develop
this approach.
We are proud of our standard of
living, and it is incumbent upon all
of us to safeguard Denver’s high
quality of life. While attainable
housing is foundational to every
person’s life, the reality is that sky-
rocketing rents and home prices
threaten to squeeze out low- and
moderate-income families and
seniors. There is no corner of this
city untouched by increasing hous-
ing costs.
We cannot afford to lose housing
for our teachers, firefighters and
nurses any more than we can afford
to lose businesses because their
workers cannot find decent hous-
ing. We hear your concerns. Denver
can do more and we are taking
action.
Access to affordable housing is
key to economic stability. It keeps
Denver diverse and inclusive,
enhancing our vitality. Affordabil-
ity also is essential to maintaining
a strong workforce and recruiting
new businesses. Investing more in
affordable housing will pay divi-
dends for families, seniors and the
workforce, as well
as for Denver’s
overall economy
and quality of life.
Denver already
spurred the cre-
ation of almost
2,000 new afford-
able units, helped
hundreds of
families with
down-payment
and mortgage
assistance, and
created a $10 mil-
lion revolving loan
to build housing
for our work-
force. Also, we’ve
launched innova-
tive financing to
help homeless
individuals into
housing instead of
paying for emer-
gency rooms and
jail nights, and
we updated the
Inclusionary Hous-
ing Ordinance. To
catch up and keep
up with the need
in our city, the
next step is to ded-
icate Denver’s first-
ever annual source
of funding to build
and preserve a full
range of affordable
housing.
We’re proposing
the exploration of
two sources that could be dedicated
for this purpose. First, we need to
explore a broad-based and reliable
source of revenue that brings our
entire community together to be a
part of this solution, in the same
way we fund other city priorities
such as parks and libraries.
In 2012, voters authorized the city
to retain property tax “mills” that
were assessed and credited back,
in order to catch city services back
up to where they were before the
recession. The city still is crediting
several of those mills and will credit
more back to taxpayers next year to
reduce the tax burden as property
values grow. We propose exploring
the dedication of up to one of the
previously credited mills for afford-
able housing. Dedicating an existing
property tax mill could generate
up to $13 million a year, would be
stable over time and would cost the
typical homeowner only $25 to $50
a year.
Second, we should explore charg-
ing a modest fee on new develop-
ment to help mitigate the housing
demand those projects stimulate.
Called a “housing linkage” or
“impact fee,” this approach is a
best practice in other cities across
the country to help balance growth
with housing demand. Develop-
ment cycles go up and down with
the economy, so while an important
tool, we believe it’s necessary to
pair this fee with the more stable
property tax source to ensure the
city can maintain a steady commit-
ment to affordable housing.
From life-saving housing with
supportive services for the home-
less, to much needed workforce
rental housing, and wealth-building
homeownership opportunities, $15
million of dedicated revenue would
provide five times more homes over
10 years than we could build with
the city’s existing resources.
Recognizing that even more is
needed, however, we also propose
a package of policies ranging from
stronger notice and rights for the
city to preserve existing affordable
housing, approaches that help keep
families in their existing homes,
and tax or fee relief for developers
of affordable housing.
A conversation with stakehold-
ers, civic leaders and the rest of the
Council to flesh out the details of
this proposal began in September,
with updates to and opportunities
for input from the broader public in
the coming months. But the good
news is that increased resources
could start right away – pending
Council approval, the 2016 budget
proposes $8 million for preserva-
tion and construction of affordable
homes, more than doubling previ-
ous investments.
Housing is a key foundation of
any community, and this is our call
to action. It will take all of us work-
ing together to grow our impact on
housing affordability in Denver and
keep our city a place of opportunity
for everyone.
s
Michael Hancock
Mayor, Denver
Robin Kniech
Councilwoman,
City Council,
Denver
Albus Brooks
Councilman,
City Council,
Denver
Editorial
