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Mike Johnston’s Denver Affordable Housing Sales Tax Rejected
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Mike Johnston’s Denver Affordable Housing Sales Tax Rejected

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and supporters Voting number 2Ra sales tax increase aimed at fueling investments and affordable housing programs, conceded the measure’s narrow defeat early Saturday morning.

While he reconstituted land in subsequent reporting after Tuesday’s election, the measure was rejected on 51% of municipal ballots counted so far, according to the latest results released Friday evening by the Denver Elections Division.

This is a slight improvement from preliminary results released Tuesday, when the measure had a rejection rate of 52.2%. The change since then demonstrates that voters who turned out on Election Day – voting with a higher chance of being processed on subsequent days – were more supportive of the tax measure.

But with about 30,000 ballots remaining to be counted, 2R was still behind by 6,145 votes. The mayor, in a press release Saturday at 5:59 a.m., acknowledged that the deficit was too large to be filled.

“We are grateful to the council members, housing advocates and community leaders who have risen to the challenge of tackling our affordability crisis head-on. We knew it would be an uphill battle, but thanks to their courage, 2R narrowly failed and Denverites continue to speak loudly about the need to address Denver’s rising housing costs. Johnston said in this statement.

He added that 2R is not the only path the city has to address housing affordability challenges and that he will continue to look for new solutions.

A recent evaluation of Denver Regional Council of Governments determined that Denver will need to build or preserve 44,000 units of affordable housing over the next decade to meet the city’s demands. Without a significant increase in the amount of financing available, the market is on track to produce just 19,000 affordable units over that period, Johnston said when announcing the tax initiative this summer.

Johnston and his supporters launched 2R, which initially reportedly raised about $100 million a year and grew with the economy over its 40-year lifespan, eventually surpassing the city’s many half-measures. That would have created a long-term funding source that they say could reverse Denver’s affordable housing shortage.

Groups such as the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, the Colorado Hotel and Lodging Association, Mile High United Way and numerous nonprofit and for-profit development corporations have supported it.

But ultimately, this coalition failed to sell the record sales tax increase to most voters.

The municipal council Housing and Homelessness Task Force Earlier, a lunchtime discussion on the first year’s spending plans for 2R revenues was listed on his agenda for next week. By Friday evening, that schedule had been changed to simply indicate a “discussion on topics related to housing and homelessness.”

Denver voters have been happy to support sales tax increases to fund priorities in the city’s recent history. They approved six sections dedicated to sales tax combined in the 2018 and 2020 elections. These included 0.25% rate hikes to fund the city’s Homeless Resolution Fund and the Parks Legacy Fund dedicated to acquisition and maintenance parks and open spaces.