Denver’s First Affordable Housing Trust Fund One Step Closer to Reality
This post was written by Karly Malpiede
Today (August 24, 2016) City Council’s Committee on Safety, Housing, Education & Homelessness unanimously passed a bill to create Denver’s First Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The Fund would raise $150 million over the next 10 years to produce, preserve and rehab 6,000 units, this results in $15 million per year to address the growing affordable housing needs in our city.
The money would be collected from two sources; 51% would come from a property tax increase of one half mill to be assessed starting January 1, 2017, which was approved by a public vote in 2012 to allow the City to keep tax dollars over the TABOR limit, and 49% would come from a development impact fee that will assess a cost of $.40 to $1.70 per square foot of a development that occurs after January 1, 2017. In order to make a full $15 million available in the first year, Mayor Hancock has pledged a one-time $5 million in general funds from the City in the 2017 budget.
Next, the draft bill will be read for the first time at the September 12th City Council meeting, it will be read for the second time at the September 19th City Council reading and a courtesy public hearing will be held at that time. If passed by Council the bill draft will be signed into law by Mayor Hancock and the City will began to assemble the committee that will govern how the money is spent starting January 2017.
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