Weekly Real Estate News
Denver voters rejected Mayor Mike Johnston’s effort to increase the local sales tax to support affordable housing projects.
The Denver Post reported Ballot Issue 2R, which would have enacted a 0.5% sales tax increase that would add 50 cents to every $100 spent on most retail purchases to help fund affordable housing development, was rejected by a 52% majority of voters. Also on the ballot, a plan for a 0.34% sales tax increase to support Denver Health went down with 57% of voters opposing the plan.
If approved, the combined efforts would have added 0.84 percentage points to the city’s effective sales tax rate, creating a spike from 8.81% to 9.65%. Johnston, who previously claimed the goal of his affordable housing plan would have created 44,000 additional units, did not immediately comment on the failure of his ballot endeavors.
