Denver voters should say ‘ no’ to Initiatives 2B, 2A

Denver Voters have been very generous. In 2018, we voted to tax ourselves an additional $ 115 million plus– annually. Denver now wants another $ 80 million annually — this time to fund programs to end homelessness and to deal with climate change— raising our sales tax, again, to pay for it.

However, 2020 is not 2018. This proud progressive is voting no on both. This a bad time to increase taxes, especially for programs that have no goals and no metrics– just permanent tax increases.

Homeless Initiative 2B. The sight of the homeless camps during COVID with people living in tents in the 100 degree heat was heartbreaking. While there might be a few grifters in the group, most of the folks have lost jobs, have mental health issues and/ or substance abuse problems. Denver has tried to solve the homeless problem for years with little success. What is missing is a strategic plan to address the underlying issues that lead to people living on the street. Throwing more money at the problems without a plan will not solve the problem.

The Denver Auditor, Tim O’Brien has conducted two scathing audits of the homeless programs in Denver, one in 2015 and most recently in 2019. His conclusions– numerous bureaucracies with overlap, 43 committees and work groups, no clear authority, no accountability, no consistent data collection, no metrics to measure success or failure.

According to the 2019 audit, Denver budgeted $ 37 million for homeless services in 2018 and more than $ 51 million in 2019. There might be more money being spent, because it is not clear if the federal grants are included in these budgets. These programs are and have been a failure. We can all see the results. The problem is getting worse.

Denver voters passed Initiative 301 in 2018, a sales tax increase that raises $ 45 million a year to deal with mental health issues here in Denver, including substance abuse and is supposed to provide services and housing for those who have mental health and or addictive problems. How is this money being spent?

We are great at forming commissions and committees with fancy names but have fallen short on finding real solutions. Until there is an accounting of how this money is being spent and a real regional path forward, Denver voters should hold off on any more funding.

Climate Initiative 2A is to provide funds for climate action– steep reductions in fossil fuel consumption and renewable energy with half of the money going to underserved communities, including job training. An admirable endeavor yet, like the homeless sales tax, light on details of exactly how these funds will be spent and who will benefit and how it fits with current programs.

Denver electric and gas ratepayers are already paying for programs to reduce consumption. In the electric and gas utility world, that is called “Demand Side Management.” Last year the Public Utilities Commission ( I was a member of the Commission at the time) approved Xcel Energy’s Demand Side Budget of $ 89 million a year for the electric utility and another $ 11 million a year for the gas utility to create and pay for programs to reduce consumption. Denver residents pay for a large chunk of these programs in your electric and gas bills.

If the goal of 2A is for Denver to build its own renewable electric generation, that should be debated and voted on– not funded by this tax. If the goal is to shut down the gas utilities and to force all of us to heat and cook with electricity, or to outlaw the internal combustion vehicles, those issues should be debated and voted on. And if these are the goals of Denver residents, $ 40 million a year is just a drop in the bucket which means the money will likely be spent on another bureaucracy with no metrics and no accountability.

Importantly, neither of these tax increases have a sunset clause, meaning they continue into perpetuity whether or not they are effective.

So, vote no until there is accountability for the monies already being spent and a real plan to show that Denver is doing something different to solve the problems of homelessness and climate change.

Frances Koncilja is a former president of the Colorado Bar Association and Denver lawyer, who recently finished a term on the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. She is again practicing law at Koncilja Public Utilities Law and Policy.