Nothing says were out of ideas like politicians reaching for new taxes with a straight face. The Denver Post has a story up about Colorado lawmakers proposing a tax on vacant homes to fund affordable housing.
This is happening at the state level in Colorado, with lawmakers pushing the concept that if a home sits empty, the government should take a bigger cut.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Colorado lawmakers proposed a tax on vacant homes.
- The stated goal is to pay for affordable housing.
- This would be a new tax approach aimed at property that is not occupied.
- The proposal is being pitched as a housing solution.
- It reinforces a larger trend of the state using tax policy to steer private behavior.
My Bottom Line
This is a laughable idea. If your plan is to punish what people own until they use it the way you prefer, that’s not housing policy, that’s control with a spreadsheet.
The government is playing Robin Hood, and it always sounds noble right up until the bill shows up in the mailbox. You dont build affordability by inventing another reason to tax property. You build it by getting out of the way of supply, permitting, and the cost pile-on that government itself keeps stacking.
Yet more nonsense from the ruling democrats in Denver. They keep treating taxpayers like an ATM that never runs dry and a problem that never matters. Meanwhile, regular working families get squeezed from both ends: higher costs to live here and fewer choices for housing.
If you want more affordable housing, stop making housing more expensive on purpose.
You can’t tax your way to common sense.
Source: The Denver Post
