Denver mayor touts success with immigrants, tax for housing in annual address

(The Center Square) – Managing overwhelming numbers of immigrants and a pledge to pass a sales tax to pay for housing were key points of Democratic Mayor Mike Johnston’s State of the City address on Monday.

Johnston told stories to highlight his administration’s response to thousands of immigrants bused by Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

“When she crossed the border, like many, she did not intend to come to Denver,” Johnston said, telling a story of a wife who was a school teacher and her husband an owner of a small plastics manufacturing company before fleeing Venezuela. “But (she) was sent here by a governor who thought that brave newcomers would challenge our humanity. They would break us. They would divide us. He had decided they weren't people, but problems. And in this crisis Denver saw not problems, but possibility. The people of this city respond in heroic ways.”

Denver assisted approximately 42,500 migrants from the southern border since December 2022, according to its website . Approximately $72 million was spent on services for immigrants, forcing the city to reduce its budget for other operating areas. The city is planning to spend more than $16 million for its Denver Asylum Seeker Program.

“In this moment of crisis, our city employees were the highest ideal of public servants,” Johnston said.

Johnston pledged a partnership with the city council to pass and place on the November ballot a .5% sales tax . It will raise approximately $100 million for affordable housing in the city.

“There will be all the same doubts about this hard problem that we've heard about the others,” Johnston said. “The problem is too complex. Solutions are too expensive. This is just what happens when cities grow up as they become unaffordable. People don't want affordable housing in their neighborhood. But our commitment is to see every problem as solvable and to stay at it relentlessly until we find a way.”

If voters approve the increase, Denver’s sales tax will be close to 10%. A .34 of a cent sales tax was approved by the city council for the November ballot to raise approximately $70 million for Denver Health.

“We want to keep the mom, the grandma and the college graduate in Denver,” Johnston said. “We can, but we have to choose it. And we have to fight for it.”