The passage of many Denver ballot measures shows residents have failed to learn the lessons of Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco, and so they are doomed to repeat the West Coast’s history of taxing and regulating folks out of housing.
So writes Joshua Sharf in Complete Colorado’s Page Two, who predicts the higher cost of living will force folks to flee Denver for the suburbs — and the entire state if the suburbs are forced to share the costs.
Sharf writes:
Each one of these measures contributes, in its own small, or not-so-small way to making Denver less affordable, especially for families, who will make their way to the suburbs.
Over the long term, these votes are symptomatic of a voter base seemingly determined to mimic the trajectories of such progressive places as Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco, with the crime and homelessness such policies bring in their wake.
The ballot measures that passed means the city will keep more of your tax dollars for meaningless local climate change policies that will do nothing to affect the planet’s climate.
Apartment complexes will have to find the raised rent money to pay for recycling and composting facilities, and more of your money will be collected for library facilities that are already well-funded.
The city will impose sidewalk fees on folks who can barely make their mortgage payments.
But on the bright side, more tax dollars are being shoveled onto the growing heap of a half billion dollars to pay for homeless services and salaries for all the people who are hired to cater to their needs.
So while voters can feel smug about taking the hard-earned dollars of Denver workers and using it for ballot measures to collect and waste money, those who can’t afford it can just go live on the sidewalk.
Someone will be along shortly with a sandwich and the necessary forms to collect government welfare.