Se Denver News

Washington, D.C. — On June 5, Colorado Congressman Joe Neguse introduced a legislative package to expand access to affordable housing. The bills included in the package would ensure working families have access to affordable, reliable, and safe housing throughout Colorado’s Western Slope. Congressman Neguse worked closely with Eagle, Gunnison, and Summit County officials to craft this legislation, making certain that the needs of Colorado’s mountain communities are heard in Washington. 

Colorado has some of America’s most significant housing shortages, according to the housing policy organization UpForGrowth, and these shortages are felt acutely in our rural-resort mountain communities. Colorado needs over 120,000 additional rental homes to fill the current affordable housing gap, per the National Low Income Housing Coalition.  

“Congress must work to remove barriers and ensure our federal housing assistance programs are working as intended.  With these bills, Coloradans will have increased access to affordable homes, bettering the lives of families and workers,” said Congressman Neguse. 

The package of bills includes the following: 

• Save Affordable Housing Act – The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (Housing Credit) is a federal tax credit that incentivizes the private sector to develop affordable housing units, making it the most successful affordable rental housing program in history. Right now, owners of Housing Credit properties can seek a Qualified Contract, which allows them to convert their Housing Credit properties to market rate after just 15 years, eliminating affordable housing on their properties. This bill would ensure that Housing Credit properties remain affordable for at least 30 years, extending access to affordable housing.
• Housing Fairness for Mountain Communities Act – The Area Median Income (AMI) calculation determines the eligibility and pricing of affordable housing in a region. Currently, AMI is calculated at the county level. In regions like Colorado’s mountain communities, there are often sharp wealth disparities within counties, and a given county’s workforce often extends far beyond its borders. AMI calculations at the county level do not always accurately reflect the economics of these communities’ labor markets and cost of living, leaving low-income families and seasonal workers without access to affordable housing. This bill would allow counties to elect to have the AMI calculated at the zip-code or regional level, offering a more accurate and nuanced reflection of wealth levels to ensure working families have access to federal housing assistance.  

The following elected officials spoke in favor of the Housing Fairness for Mountain Communities Act: 

“As the mayor of Breckenridge, along with my fellow council members, we have worked hard to create affordable workforce housing and we know how important it is to leverage local funds with Federal investment. This bill offers a practical and customized solution for mountain communities that will offer a better representation of our local income. And, more importantly, the analysis of the current methodology will provide data and information that is critical to understanding how we can work together on housing solutions,” said BreckenridgeMayor Eric Mamula. 

“The Winter Park Town Council has consistently identified the lack of community housing as a crisis that threatens the Town's character and culture, economic vitality, and ability to provide basic services… We applaud your efforts to allow us to be more fully included in federal housing programs and we hope that further investigating local area-median incomes will also help us better serve our community moving forward,” said Winter Park Mayor Nick Kutrumbos. 

“Because of the extremely high costs in rural resort communities, affordable housing developments are extremely difficult to make work using traditional resources. Assuring that AMI calculations identify these mountain communities as eligible for federal funding is critical, as additional federal funding is necessary to create affordable housing in these high cost areas,” said Eagle County Commissioners Chair Kathy Chandler-Henry, Matt Scherr, and Jeanne McQueeney. 

“Due to the extremely high housing and construction costs in rural mountain resort communities, affordable housing developments are extremely difficult to make fit traditional housing funding parameters and programs. Assuring that AMI calculations identify these mountain communities as eligible for federal funding is critical, as additional federal funding is necessary to create attainable workforce and community housing in these high-cost areas,” said Gunnison County Commissioners Jonathan Houck, Liz Smith, and Laura Puckett Daniels. 

“The Summit County Board of County Commissioners is grateful for the work by your team over the past few weeks on AMI calculations and how they impact Summit County. We are proud to join our peer communities in supporting this legislation,” said Summit County Commissioners Elisabeth Lawrence, Tamara Pogue, and Joshua Blanchard. 

“The lack of available and attainable housing in Colorado mountain resort communities has reached a crisis level which is directly impacting the provision of basic community services as well as the ability to adequately staff and operate businesses, from ski resort companies to small businesses,” said Jonathan Godes, the president of the Colorado Association of Ski Towns (CAST). “The issues addressed in the Affordability & Fairness for Mountain Communities Act of 2023 are ones that CAST members have discussed for many years. Mountain communities have long recognized that Area Median Income (AMI) isn’t reflective of income across an entire region. We believe the waiver process identified in this Act will yield significant improvement in addressing how AMI is determined. The Act will allow for greater participation in programs.” 

Read the letters of support HERE.

Original source can be found here