DENVER — Denver voters rejected a ballot initiative that would have created the largest dedicated sales tax in the city’s history and supercharged Mayor Mike Johnston’s efforts to expand affordable housing.
Ballot Issue 2R, proposed by Mayor Johnston during his first State of the City address back in July, would have raised the city’s effective sales tax rate by 0.5%, adding 0.5 cents to the cost of every $10 purchase, excluding essentials like groceries, gas, medical supplies, and some personal hygiene products.
Unofficial results from the Denver Clerk and Recorder showed that 49.01% of voters favored the measure compared to 50.99% who were against it, with more than 311,000 ballots counted.
Johnston and backers of 2R conceded the measure’s narrow defeat early Saturday morning. He released the following statement:
“We are grateful to the council members, housing advocates and community leaders who took on the challenge of addressing our affordability crisis head on. We knew this would be a difficult struggle, but thanks to their courage, 2R fell short by the narrowest of margins, and Denverites continue to speak loudly about the need to confront rising housing costs across Denver. 2R was one path to make Denver more affordable, but it’s not the only path forward. I remain committed to finding new solutions to take on this challenge. We continue to believe that our toughest problems are solvable, and we are the ones to solve them - that will never change.”
This isn’t the first time Denver voters have been asked to fund housing-related initiatives. In 2020, Denverites approved a dedicated 0.25% increase to the effective sales tax rate to provide more housing and services for the homeless, which brings about $50 million a year, according to our partners at the Denver Post.
Recent polling released by the city of Denver revealed that 90% of Denverites believe housing costs are a significant concern.
Though voters rejected the mayor's initiative, Denver’s sales tax rate will increase after voters approved Ballot Issue 2Q, a separate 0.34% increase to the city’s effective sales tax rate aimed at supporting Denver Health.
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