Common Sense Institute meeting

Continued from page 5 the highest level depicted on a chart he presented that went back 23 years. He attributed the lower LFPR in 2023 compared to 2008 to an aging workforce, “declin- ing male LFPR,” and “transfer of wealth allowing for fewer workers.”

In the area of housing, Byers said that housing prices have increased 112%, including the cost of interest, during the past

11 years. One reason he pointed to was the lack of new housing being built, noting that, “Denver Metro needs to issue 26,000 to 37,600 building permits (annually) to close the housing deficit… by 2028,” while current projections are that 21,120 permits will be issued in 2023.

Later, on that same topic, Mayor Piko said, “In Arapahoe County alone, there are over 108,000 housing units already approved by local government. Why aren’t they being built?’” She noted costs have increased and local governments must be flexible. In Centennial, she said, “I have yet to see us not increase density when it’s been asked of us, in the appropriate locations in our city.” She pointed to Centennial’s ongoing comprehensive housing study that has included significant public input. She also noted that she planned to work with local legislators in the coming months to help craft a plan to be considered in the next session that could be acceptable to cities, unlike SB23-213, which failed, largely under the weight of local opposition.

On the topic of housing, Mayor Paul pointed to Lakewood’s 2019 citizen-passed 1% growth cap that was “punitive to those who want to densify.” He explained that the difficulty in getting anything approved after that passed caused the development community to lose interest in Lakewood, costing local jobs. HB23-1255, passed this year, removing the growth cap in Lakewood, Golden, and Boulder, was “a double-edged sword,” he said, because, although he did not support the growth cap, it was passed by voters, so moving forward will have challenges.

Both Mayor Piko and Mayor Paul said they expect their cities to opt into the affordable housing program outlined in Proposition 123, passed by the voters last year, that will provide state support for more housing.

On the topic of crime, Byers pointed to the inverse relationship, as depicted on the graph above, between the crime rate and the prison population in Colorado, going back to 2008. It shows that the period in which the crime rate began dramatically increasing as the prison population decreased largely coincided with the beginning of the pandemic, when many law enforcement officials attempted to whittle down the number of people incarcerated to minimize the impact of the highly contagious COVID-19 virus. Byers attributed the increase in car thefts, which began to spike in 2019, to a bill passed by the legislature in 2014 that made the theft of a vehicle worth under $2,000 a misdemeanor, compared to the theft of a vehicle worth more than $2,000 a felony. After seeing the rate of motor vehicle theft double between 2020 and 2022, the legislature passed SB23-097 this year, making all motor vehicle thefts, regardless of the value of the vehicle, a felony. Gov. Polis signed that bill, SB23-097, into law on June 2.

Byers also noted that in migration in Colorado has gone from third in the country in 2015 to 18th in 2022, though the data he presented shows it is still in positive territory.

On the topic of homelessness, no one had a solution and estimated costs varied. Caulfield said that CSI independently calculated that Denver spent $1.4 billion on homelessness between 2021 and 2023. She questioned what the city’s return on investment has been?

A report by the Denver Auditor in April 2023 estimated the city spent $13.7 million on homeless encampment response between January 2019 and June 2022 but noted, significantly, that the total is likely higher because the city doesn’t do a good job of tracking it, which required the Auditor to get information from 10 city agencies to prepare its calculation.

Mayor Paul said that Denver spent $245 million on homelessness last year, which is more than Lakewood’s entire budget. In Jefferson County, he noted, “We pay for a shelter for animals, but we don’t have one for human beings.” Still, he noted, “The option of just living on the street is not an option and we’re not going to allow it.” fmiklin.villager@gmail.com