Mike Johnston: 2R will invest $100 million to keep Denver housing within reach

It was with some mixture of excitement, pride and dread that I took my 16-year-old son and his friends to visit colleges in October.

As we walked through campus I watched them dream of the possibilities — places they might want to go, subjects they might want to study, careers they might choose. As taken as they were with the experience, they also mentioned wanting to come back and live in Denver after graduating.

I was happy to hear it — what father wouldn’t be — but I couldn’t help but get ahead of myself. How, even with a college degree and a good starting job, would they ever be able to afford the life so many of us once aspired to?

These stories aren’t unique to my family. I hear them all across Denver, whether it’s the new mom whose retired parents moved in down the block to help out with the kids, but now can’t afford the rent, or the nurse who works the night shift, but lives every month in fear that her landlord will raise the rent again and she won’t be able to keep her kids in the school they love.

Denverites overwhelmingly say the cost of housing is their most important concern, and with good reason. Right now the cost of housing is rising faster in Denver than it is in New York City, Chicago or San Francisco.

This year, we have the opportunity to change this trajectory through Ballot Issue 2R. For far too long, our leaders have been talking about the need to reduce housing costs. But whether it was lack of resources, lack of political will, or the belief that this problem is just unsolvable, little has been done to stem the curve of increasing costs at the scale we need.

2R changes that by bringing in the resources we need at the scale that we need them. Through a 0.5% sales tax (groceries, gas and prescription medicine would be exempt), we can bring in $100 million every year that will go directly toward housing affordability.

I know what you’re thinking. That sounds great, Mike, but where is all that money going? The funds raised through Affordable Denver will support people who make up to 100% of the area median income, meaning a family of four making up to $100,000 a year could be eligible. Second, we will create housing where people don’t have to pay more than 30% of their income to rent. So, for example, if your family makes $80,000 a year, you shouldn’t pay more than $2,000 for rent a month.

The Affordable Denver fund has the potential to transform Denver’s housing landscape through four primary strategies:

First, we can make an immediate difference by helping Denverites who pay more than 30% of their income to rent get that expense down. That means for a retail worker who makes minimum wage but pays $1,800 in rent every month, the city would partner with them to pay a portion of the cost until their own monthly payment was just 30% of their income. This creates immediate relief for Denver workers while we build up long-term infrastructure.

Second, when affordable units go up for sale, the city can jump in and buy the property to keep it affordable long-term. With more affordable units on the market, a senior living on a fixed income could get housing that fits within their budget.

Third, we will create long-term affordability by building new units. That means using city dollars to help finance new housing – but in order for the city to be that financer, the development has to include housing that is affordable to folks like our teachers.