Residents say housing is key for Colorado legislature: Here are concerns, what's in works

The topics of housing and air quality dominated at a listening session Sunday with Fort Collins' state Reps. Cathy Kipp and Andrew Boesenecker.

More than two dozen people showed up during their listening session at the Old Town Library to share concerns about those topics, along with a dozen more issues ranging from education and health care to property taxes and immigration.

Here are some of the highlights of the conversation, plus what Kipp and Boesenecker said is brewing at the state Capitol on key topics:

Air quality concerns

Kipp, chair of the House Energy & Environment Committee, said she is expecting quite a few bills related to the environment this session but not many have been filed so far and none of them are hers.

Members of the audience noted that Larimer County's air quality is rated as among the worst in the nation and said more needs to be done to address the impacts that oil and gas production happening in neighboring Weld County, in particular, has on Larimer County.

They urged the representatives to support reforms that would improve data collection, saying a regional approach is needed and that current air quality monitoring creates the illusion that things are being monitored when the data it captures is useless.

The Colorado Energy Office will release its Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction roadmap 2.0 in February, Kipp said.

Education

An audience member asked why charter schools have to fight for funding every year and whether it's true that there's a bill to ban charter schools.

Kipp clarified that charter schools receive the same level of per-pupil funding as regular public schools, but charter schools do have to fund their own facilities. Boesenecker said he hasn't heard of any bill to ban charter schools, and Kipp said charters aren't going away.

Regarding the removal of content in libraries, Kipp said a bill has been introduced to create a process for filing complaints about objectionable books so a review can take place.

Kipp also noted Gov. Jared Polis' budget proposal would end the so-called "negative factor" that has prevented the state from fully funding K-12 education.

Property taxes

One audience member asked about the status of modifying Colorado's Senior Homestead Exemption so qualifying seniors can still get that property tax break when they move into a different home. Right now, homeowners 65 and older have to have lived in their home for at least 10 years to get the exemption, which cuts $200,000 of the home's valuation.

Kipp said Polis' desire was to get it done despite the failure of Proposition HH in November, which would have accomplished that, among many other provisions that voters rejected.

Boesenecker said the cost has been a barrier even though everyone seems to be in agreement about the value of doing it.

There's an estimated $70 million impact per year, he said, so the legislature has to make difficult decisions about "where does that money come from?"

Immigration impacts

A participant said supporting the influx of migrants coming from the southern border to Colorado is becoming unsustainable for local governments. She noted that Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has asked President Joe Biden for more support to handle the impacts.

Kipp noted that Polis has said it's a federal issue and that the 4th District's U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse is trying to get federal aid.

She said at the state level, the challenge is that Colorado's legislature is required to balance its budget while the federal government does not. "There's very little money left," she said, but "we want people who come here to be able to work" in their fields, for example, using their existing professional licenses. "We want people to be housed and contributing to the community."

Housing issues

Bills that are expected to be introduced this year include:

• Making accessory dwelling units allowable by right.

• Encouraging transit-oriented development.

• Prohibiting residential occupancy limits.

• Land use proposals, including streamlined development review processes.

• Requiring just-cause eviction.

Boesenecker is planning a bill giving local governments the right of first refusal when existing affordable housing units are sold. Under the bill, those units would have to remain affordable housing for years to come, he said.

In the audience, people on both sides of land use code issues shared their viewpoints.

They said they wanted:

• Ways to provide more permanent, supportive housing, like Redtail Ponds and Mason Place in Fort Collins.

• Policies that allow more housing and more housing types to be built in cities so people have more choices to fit their needs or downsize when needed.

• Affordable housing to be defined and the most effort to be focused on providing it for the lowest tier of income, those making 30% of the area median income.

• Clear goals requiring affordable housing to be built.

• The impacts of ADUs on housing affordability to be studied.

Rental regulation

A few participants identified themselves as small landlords and expressed concerns about the potential for bills establishing just-cause eviction.

Two of the landlords explained how they use nonrenewal of leases so both renter and property owner can reach an amicable ending.

"I want people to leave my building with no record and a fresh start," she said, giving the renter a chance to learn lessons. "Preserving the ability to end a contract is important so I can show grace and let people move on."

Another landlord said if a property owner's only recourse is pursuing eviction, then it goes on someone's permanent record and makes the relationship inherently adversarial. She said the state doesn’t need to be involved in that relationship simply because there are a few bad actors.

One of the women said establishing free mediation would be a much stronger tool to prevent evictions.

Town hall coming up

The two representatives are planning a town hall-style meeting on Feb. 10 at a site still to be determined. The Coloradoan will publish information when it becomes available.

Boesenecker encouraged residents to testify remotely on bills, saying sometimes the people being paid to speak in person aren't the most important voices to be heard.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Cathy Kipp, Andrew Boesenecker hold listening session in Fort Collins