Why TABOR Makes Housing So Unaffordable in Colorado

Colorado is now ranked the 6th least affordable state in the country, up from 8th last year. Across Colorado, people on fixed incomes, working people, and their families struggle to afford to remain housed. Essential service workers, teachers, and nurses often cannot afford to live close to where they work. 

Renter households spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs and utilities are cost burdened; those spending more than half of their income are severely cost burdened. In Colorado, 89% of Extremely Low Income Renters (those earning between 0-30% of Area Median Income) are cost burdened, and 79% of those renters are severely cost burdened.

In Colorado, there are only 26 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 renter households at or below the threshold of extremely low income (those with earnings at 0-30% Area Median Income). The state faces a shortage of 134,281 affordable rental homes.  

When developing affordable housing policy, it’s important to target Coloradans with the lowest incomes who face the most severe shortage; simply adding to the housing supply is not enough.

The Federal Housing Landscape

Federal rental assistance programs help people and families with low incomes afford good-quality, stable housing and make ends meet. The Trump Administration has interrupted the normal flow of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds that are used to address housing needs, again sometimes through means that are likely illegal. HUD attempted to withhold funds in January 2025 as part of a broader federal funding freeze, which multiple federal courts have ordered the Trump Administration to temporarily halt while they review the action. HUD does not appear to have intentionally withheld funds for vouchers and other rental assistance so far, but the uncertainty created by Trump Administration policies has led to payment delays that could cause some landlords to stop accepting vouchers, making it harder for voucher holders to find homes they can rent.

Meanwhile, HUD has yet to deliver any of the $3.6 billion in homelessness assistance funding awarded Jan. 17, which communities are counting on to provide rental assistance, shelter, outreach, and other services to people experiencing homelessness. While HUD notified at least some grantees that they will begin to receive funds soon, the uncertainty has disrupted community planning efforts and the final awards may include abrupt policy changes that could complicate implementation. The Trump Administration has also canceled contracts for organizations that help protect people from housing discrimination and provide technical assistance that plays a crucial role in effectively implementing HUD programs—even though the Trump Administration provided no evidence that the organizations were failing to perform as required.

Finally, HUD officials have proposed or discussed a series of policy changes that would make it harder for many people in need to receive housing assistance. HUD has said it will publish a rule rolling back non-discrimination protections that guarantee access to safe shelter and housing assistance for transgender and nonbinary people, who experience disproportionately high rates of homelessness. And it has already published a rule weakening fair housing requirements.

HUD officials have also called for evicting or cutting off rental assistance for people who don’t meet burdensome work requirements, a step that would increase administrative costs and expose many children, people with serious health conditions or caretaking responsibilities, and others to severe hardship.

Rather than squandering resources on costly tax cuts for the wealthy, policymakers should be expanding effective programs toward the goals of ending homelessness and ensuring everyone has a stable, affordable home. And they should make targeted reforms to address shortcomings of those programs to make them even more effective at addressing pressing housing needs. The Trump Administration’s actions will have the opposite effect, making it harder for people to afford housing and exit homelessness. Please reach out to your federal legislators to share your support for funding and access for affordable housing assistance programs.

Options in the Colorado Tax Policy Toolbelt to Address Housing Affordability

TABOR is a major hindrance to directly funding the expansion of affordable housing through the budget, which is why tax expenditure mechanisms are often used as a work-around for funding programs in Colorado, via credits, deductions, or exemptions. However, housing affordability policies should be targeted to support those who are struggling the most to make ends meet. Additionally, affordable housing policy should include a funding mechanism that raises revenue dedicated solely to investing in new and increasing housing needs.

There are several strategies that Colorado could employ to provide targeted relief through tax policy and raise revenue dedicated to funding state affordable housing solutions, but TABOR is holding our state back. Options include implementing a Property Tax Circuit Breaker, expanding Colorado’s Renters’ Circuit Breaker, and repealing the Real Estate Transaction Tax Ban in TABOR.

These are fiscal strategies to address the housing crisis—but there are many other policy tools as well. Moving forward, we continue to support targeted strategies that expand the accessibility of affordable housing for those who are struggling to make ends meet the most. Furthermore, Colorado needs a sustainable source of revenue that is solely dedicated to investing in a broad range of resources that promote housing affordability, accessibility, and security.