In a time of a housing crisis in Colorado, Sen. John Hickenlooper, stopped in Woodland Park this month to learn about the issues in Teller County.

“Interest rates are increasing, which cuts down on the affordability of our homebuyers and we are struggling to keeps our costs down,” said Zanya Rodabough, president of Teller County Habitat for Humanity, host of the presentation. “We are struggling to keep costs down.”

While the city of Woodland Park has helped the organization by sponsoring grant applications, the city does not waive tap fees, she said adding that Habitat Colorado along with Central Bank had helped the organization continue to build homes.

The focus of Hickenlooper’s visit was to highlight the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act. “The act is not a progressive’s wish list. It is a bipartisan bill that many Republicans had a loud voice in,” said the Democratic U.S. senator.

The bill includes $100 billion in tax credits for clean energy generation and $10 billion for renewables such as solar panels on roofs, Hickenlooper said. “Climate change is real, and the consequences are exactly what was predicted over the last 40 years,” he said. “We’re at a tipping point.”

With lower energy costs, the savings will balance higher interest rates. “That’s what going to happen; we’re going to drive costs down due to wind and solar,” he said.

To concerns about the supply chain and its impact on housing costs, the senator pointed to the effect of the coronavirus on global supplies. “Countries put a lot of money into the system, but it’s the first time we had a shutdown of the global economy, ever – in the history of the world,” he said.

Before the shutdown, manufacturers were building up supplies to meet the demands of the booming economy. “We created a supply chain that is complex and then we dismantled it,” Hickenlooper said. “No matter what things we do, we can’t just turn it back on.”

It could be two more years before the backlog in the supply chain recovers, he said.

In addition to lack of supplies and rising interest rates, the cost of housing has an impact on the labor force at Newmont’s Cripple Creek & Victor Mining Co., said Katie Blake, community relations representative for the mining company.

As well, housing costs are affecting the city of Woodland Park as it seeks to fill vacancies, said Suzanne LeClercq, the city’s clerk and assistant town manager.

Hickenlooper replied that Colorado received $2 billion for workforce housing under the COVID relief bill, the funds administered by the Department of Local Affairs.

But to raise awareness of opportunities for the housing grants, Hickenlooper said he plans to hire a facilitator. “That person will push the Department of Local Affairs. We’ll be so much more successful in Colorado if we ensure that small towns get their fair share,” he said. “My guess is that Governor Polis, who is process-oriented – it will be something he’ll arrange.”

Rodabough and Sara Vestal, interim director of Habitat, hosted the presentation in one of Habitat’s two-story townhomes under construction, part of the 18 townhomes in the Trailhead development.