We're already in the middle of a housing affordability crisis here in Colorado, and a new fee increase is about to make things harder. Denver Water's Board of Water Commissioners approved a tap fee hike of up to 32%, taking effect July 1, 2026. For a single-family home inside Denver, that means a sharp jump in the one-time cost just to connect to the water system. Builders pass those costs directly to buyers. When we're trying to close the gap on housing supply and bring prices down, adding thousands of dollars per unit to the cost of construction moves us in exactly the wrong direction.
I understand water infrastructure costs money. Gross Reservoir and the new treatment plant are real projects with real price tags. But a 32% increase all at once — landing entirely on new construction — puts the burden on the people we most need to house: first-time buyers, working families, people trying to stay in Colorado instead of leaving for somewhere cheaper. There are other ways to phase in infrastructure costs or spread them more fairly across existing ratepayers, rather than piling everything onto new homes right now.
I'm asking you to publicly call for a review of how Denver Water's tap fee increases are structured and to support any state-level action that requires infrastructure fees on new housing to be phased in gradually rather than imposed all at once. Families trying to buy or rent a home in Colorado deserve representatives who will stand up and say a 32% jump is too much, too fast.
