House committee signs off on Colorado affordable housing fund bill

DENVER – A bill that would create a statewide fund for affordable housing in Colorado cleared its first legislative hurdle.

The House Local Government Committee voted 7-6 Wednesday to advance House Bill 17-1309.

The bill calls for an increase in the documentary fee – a small paperwork charge that the county clerk and recorder collects when you buy a home. The fee is currently one cent for every $100 paid on a property; the bill would double the fee to two cents. For a $350,000 home, that would represent a total of about $70.

The money raised by the one-cent increase would go into a statewide fund that would assist in the construction of affordable housing and also help agencies that provide housing assistance.

According to a fiscal note on the bill, the fee increase would generate an expected $3.8 million in fiscal year 2017-18 and $7.6 million in fiscal year 2018-19.

The bill specifies that “affordable” housing projects are those that are considered affordable for renters that make 80 percent or less of the area median income (AMI) and homeowners that make 110 percent or less of the AMI. Denver’s AMI in 2016 was $56,870.

The bill heads to the House floor next.