Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb pushes back on tax initiative for affordable housing

Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb says now isn’t the time to ask voters to approve a sales tax hike for affordable housing.  

Webb says the measure, pushed by current Mayor Mike Johnston, will put a tax measure by Denver Health in jeopardy.

“I’m not opposed to affordable housing, I’m opposed to the timing,” Webb said. “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 says Denver Health — which is asking for a 0.35% increase — needs to be the priority. The hospital says it provided nearly $136 million in uncompensated care over the last six years.

“Other hospitals in the Denver Metro area can’t carry that patient load. Denver Health is also a teaching hospital, and it is also the number one trauma center,” says Webb. “I think Michael is a bright guy. He’s a policymaker. He’s good at that. I question whether he’s a good administrator. Time will tell.”

Johnston’s .05% tax for affordable housing would be the eighth dedicated tax in the city and the largest. Voters have also approved sales taxes for parks, college scholarships, mental health, healthy food for kids, climate change and homelessness.

You can see those funds broken down by year here.

If both tax measures pass in November, it would bring the city’s overall sales tax to nearly 10%, on par with the likes of Los Angeles and New York.

Webb’s message to voters is, “If you have to choose, you make sure you vote yes on Denver Health. It shouldn’t be that difficult. Everybody in the city should be saying the same thing. In some cities around the country, they don’t even have a public hospital. We should be saying Denver Health is ours and we’re going to fight for it, and we’re going to protect it, and we’re going to nurture it, and we’re going to make sure it’s around for several generations to come.”

A spokesperson for Johnston released a statement saying, “Mayor Johnston is a strong supporter of the Denver Health measure and will fight to ensure it gets passed. For too long, Denver leaders have been talking about the need for affordable housing without taking the bold action needed to address it at scale. And the longer we wait, the more expensive and more difficult it will be to truly address this crisis. The teachers, nurses, seniors, and working families that make our city run deserve both accessible healthcare and affordable housing, and we will work to make both a reality.”

Here are the dedicated sales taxes voters have approved:

• Nov. 3, 2020: 2A Climate Protection – .025%
• Nov. 3, 2020: 2B Housing and Shelter Tax – 0.25%
• Nov. 6, 2018: 301 Mental Health (Caring for Denver) – 0.25%
• Nov. 6, 2018: 302 Feed Denver Kids (Healthy Food) – 0.08%
• Nov. 6, 2018: 300 College Tuition (Prosperity Denver) – 0.08%
• Nov. 6, 2018: 2A Trails and Open Space (Parks) – 0.25%
• Nov. 7, 2006: 1A Denver Preschool Program – 0.15%