EDITORIAL: A flat-out NO to Denver tax hikes 2Q and 2R

Denver needs affordable housing; on that point, we would agree with Mayor Mike Johnston. It’s how he proposes to address the issue — socking taxpayers for an additional $100 million a year and handing his administration essentially a blank check — that jumps the rails.

Meanwhile, the city’s medical-care provider of last resort, Denver Health, is in fiscal straits. On that point, as well, we agree with Johnston and the City Council. And yet, once again, it’s the approach they have championed that is out of line — hitting up taxpayers for another $70 million a year to bail out the hospital.

Both proposals jump the gun in hounding taxpayers for more money. Seemingly little effort was made to examine the underlying causes of the problems those tax dollars would be spent on, or to be more creative in seeking solutions. And the two proposals together simply raise taxes too high.

That’s why the Gazette editorial board urges a NO vote on Ballot Issue 2Q and Ballot Issue 2R.

Denver Health’s red ink flows in part from millions of dollars in uncompensated care it gave to a wave of immigrants from South and Central America who had entered the U.S. illegally and ended up in Denver. If anything, that makes the case not for raising taxes but for indicting the sanctuary policies that have beckoned illegal immigration to Denver’s doorstep.

Johnston’s affordable-housing proposal seems especially half baked. It’s supposed to fund 20,000 affordable housing units, but a lot of basic details remain hazy. You have to wonder if Johnston has even thought through its implementation or is just seeking a “win” for his resume. It’s as if merely promising affordable housing — magic words, nowadays — were reason enough for voters to fork over the dough for a plan still on the drawing board.

Of course, the city’s hard-pressed taxpayers are themselves being crushed by high housing costs as well as inflation in general. Are they willing or even able to dig deeper into their own pockets?

Johnston’s whip-out-the-checkbook generosity with other people’s money in fact would elevate the Mile High City into the stratosphere for taxes. As The Gazette reported earlier this year, if Denver voters approve both local tax hikes on this fall’s mail ballot — Issue 2Q’s .34% sales tax for the hospital as well as 2R’s .5% sales tax for housing — the city's sales tax rate would become the highest in metro Denver and northern Colorado.

Denver’s status as a tax capital would rival that of some of the state's priciest mountain resort towns. Instead of well-heeled, out-of-state tourists picking up the tab, however, rank-and-file Denverites would get stuck with it.

We’re hardly alone in thinking the housing proposal in particular isn’t ready for prime time. The Denver City Council itself was divided on the matter when a majority voted last month to place it on the ballot. Some members lamented the breakneck pace at which the measure sailed through the legislative process at City Hall, and they criticized the lack of community input.

One of Denver’s foremost political heavyweights, former Mayor Wellington Webb, offered some needed perspective at the time of last month’s council vote.

"I was surprised that Mayor Johnston, who has a lot of issues on his plate primarily around homelessness, did not delay it until the spring in order to get one of these issues passed," Webb said.

Could the dueling tax hikes cancel each other out? For our money, voters would do well to send Johnston home empty handed.