Mayor Mike Johnston's tax plan suffers major blow from City Council

The Denver City Council dealt Mayor Mike Johnston's proposal to hike taxes to fund affordable housing a significant blow on Wednesday.

The big picture: A council committee postponed moving the measure forward in order to obtain more details about how Johnston's plan to generate $100 million annually by raising the sales tax will actually work.

• The plan, introduced earlier this month, would provide money to finance, build and maintain rental and for-sale homes, as well as fund services to help people keep their housing.

Why it matters: The decision to wait is a swift and public rebuke of Johnston's latest attempt to rush a grand plan through without the council's full backing or consideration.

Threat level: The council is working on a time crunch. They have until Aug. 26 to vote on putting the measure onto the November ballot.

State of play: Councilmember Jamie Torres says Johnston's tax proposal doesn't have her support yet because it's not specific enough. For example, she wants it to focus on housing for those making $54,780 or less a year (or 60% of the area median income ).

• Council members during Wednesday's meeting said the proposal felt rushed, lacked community outreach from the mayor's administration, and they questioned the impact of a sales tax increase on the public.

Between the lines: Postponements are fairly uncommon at the committee level, and often occur to give bill sponsors more time to provide details.

• Council committees don't "kill" bills, and most measures are considered by the full council, which has final say.

Context: The money the plan would raise could pay for as many as 44,000 affordable housing units over the next 10 years, according to Johnston , while increasing the city's overall sales tax rate for the eighth time since 2014.

• The city's chief housing officer Jamie Rife on Wednesday told council members the plan would have a "meaningful impact" on making the city more affordable.
• Councilmember Sarah Parady, who supported the measure, said Denver "absolutely needs the money."

The other side: Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb told us he's "disappointed" Johnston is rushing this affordable housing tax proposal.

• Webb fears it could prevent a second proposed sales tax providing funding to Denver Health from passing at a time when "the public is getting tired of taxes."

What they're saying: "The mayor could've pushed Denver Health [this November] and then pushed housing in the spring," Webb told us by text. "It was noticeable he didn't mention Denver Health in his State of the City address."

What's next: Johnston's measure will return to the city's safety and housing committee for consideration on Aug. 7.

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