As a Summit County commissioner and the Housing Committee chair for Counties & Commissioners Acting Together (CCAT) and as a new commissioner in Arapahoe County, one of the bills we were most excited to support this year, House Bill 1190, is first-of-its-kind legislation that would provide local governments with a more reasonable chance to purchase apartments as affordable housing.

This legislation is sorely needed in our communities and in communities across Colorado. As the 8th most expensive state to live in for renters, the struggle to find affordable housing has reached alarming levels. The statistics speak for themselves: with over 160 thousand extremely low-income renter households and a mere 46K affordable and available rental units, Colorado currently provides just 29 affordable homes for every 100 extremely low-income renter households.

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In Summit County, our housing market is undeniably dysfunctional with the cost of building a single unit alone reaching half a million dollars. Last year, the median price of a single-family home exceeded a staggering 1.2 million dollars; this year we are at 2.1 million dollars. And in Arapahoe, where we had the highest number of evictions in the state in 2021 and where we have a 60,000+ unit deficit in rental housing that is affordable across all income brackets, we need all the tools we can get to tackle our housing crisis. The consequences of these situations are dire, with families, including teachers, law enforcement officers, and essential community members, squeezed into cramped two-bedroom units, where children sleep in bathtubs due to the lack of space.

The issue this bill addresses is straightforward. Local governments and housing authorities are trying to purchase and provide affordable housing, but they aren’t able to compete in the current market. When apartments are up for sale, they’re often purchased by corporate hedge funds, sight unseen without inspections or appraisals, and with cash, often in a week or less. These investors can do this because they raise rents by anywhere from 25-50%, immediately, and steadily higher in years to follow. This, in turn, contributes to evictions, displacement, loss of community connections, gentrification, and housing segregation.

The beautiful balance struck in this bill is that it addresses a market deficiency, but also preserves fundamental property rights. This bill ultimately leaves a property owner in the driver’s seat. And given how stretched local government budgets are, use of this tool would not negatively impact the market as we act judiciously and transparently in a timely manner.

Under this bill, which exempts all properties less than 30 years old, a property owner never has to sell unless they want to, or for a penny less than they want to-there’s nothing involuntary required. This legislation simply allows local governments to match the best offer a seller deems acceptable. It would empower mission-minded entities with a reasonable chance to compete in today’s market – a chance to provide Coloradans with long term and deeply affordable housing.

Governor, we urge you to help us help our residents by giving us the opportunity to compete in a broken real estate market. By signing this bill into law, you would provide communities like Summit and Arapahoe counties with the necessary tools to address the housing crisis and foster a more equitable and prosperous future for Colorado.

We thank the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Faith Winter, Sen. Sonya Jacquez Lewis, Rep. Andrew Boesenecker and Rep. Emily Sirota, and we thank Gov. Polis for his consideration of signing this bill into law.

Tamara Pogue is a Summit County commissioner. Jessica Campbell-Swanson is an Arapahoe County commissioner.