While traditional housing assistance programs focus on the lower end of the income spectrum, the housing crisis in Colorado can be felt at any level. Specifically, those who fall in the middle range are experiencing the challenges of buying a home in the Denver metro area.
The Colorado General Assembly finalized the $34.1 billion, 2021-2022 budget on April 30, with last-minute additions for gray wolf reintroduction, short-term cash assistance and bullying prevention efforts. If the budget package is signed by Governor Jared Polis, it would constitute an 11 percent increase in spending over the current year.
That’s a far cry from the belt-tightening forced by the pandemic last spring, when lawmakers on the Joint Budget Committee were expecting a prolonged economic downturn. But this year, between higher-than-expected sales and income tax revenue, and a forthcoming influx of federal coronavirus relief money, legislators almost had more money than they knew what to do with, to quote Senator Dominick Moreno, a Commerce City Democrat who s the JBC chair.