Budget and Policy Committee Discusses TDM and Property Tax Rebate on 2025-11-10
Budget and Policy Committee Meeting – November 10, 2025
The Budget and Policy Committee of Denver City Council met on November 10, 2025, to discuss two policy proposals: (1) potential updates to the Transportation Demand Management (TDM) ordinance to address overparking, and (2) proposed changes to the Property Tax Rebate Program to expand eligibility and improve outreach. No formal votes were taken; the discussions were intended to gather feedback for future actions.
Discussion Items
1. Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Policy Update
Councilmember Sawyer presented an overview of the current TDM ordinance, enacted in 2021, which requires certain projects to develop plans reducing single-occupancy vehicle trips. He noted challenges: the ordinance relies on outdated parking minimums as enforcement baselines (removed in a prior city council vote), RTD service limitations reduce eco‑pass effectiveness, and many projects continue to “overpark” (build more spaces than needed). He cited examples: 100 Cook (CMX‑5 office) required 136 spaces but built 216; 1145 South Broadway (470 units) required 428 but built 691, with units costing $50,000 each. A chart showed that while parking trends are decreasing overall, outliers still build excess parking. Councilmember Sawyer proposed considering a parking fee for extra spaces, but emphasized it is early-stage and suggested hiring a consultant to study context‑specific solutions. He did not recommend parking maximums immediately. Other councilmembers expressed varied views: Councilmember Flynn urged caution and suggested letting market trends work; Councilmember Alvidrez raised concerns about affordable housing coupling with parking, RTD station parking, and specific district issues (e.g., Highland/Sunnyside lack of transportation management associations). Councilmember Hines noted safe non‑car infrastructure is essential for mode shift and referenced past unfulfilled developer promises. Councilmember Watson asked about cost per unit for affordable housing, and Councilmember Sandoval highlighted heavy parking demand in Northwest Denver. No vote was taken; next steps may include hiring a consultant and further committee discussion.
2. Property Tax Rebate Program Policy Proposal
Councilmembers Sawyer and Gilmore presented phase‑two updates to the Denver Property Tax Relief Program, which moved administration from DHS to HOST in 2025. The program provides partial refunds to qualifying residents (homeowners with disabilities, age 65+, with children; renters with disabilities or age 65+). Key statistics: average refund for 2024‑2025 was $1,148; for 2025‑2026 (May–Oct 2025) the average is about $1,200; 3,018 applications received since May 2025, with 1,047 approved. Proposed eligibility changes: lower homeowner age threshold from 65 to 62, increase AMI cap from 60% to 80%, add a category for surviving unmarried spouses, align renter income thresholds to 30% AMI across all household sizes, and consider phasing out renters by 2030 (redirecting funds to homeowners as a displacement‑prevention tool). Current beneficiaries are ~57% renters, 43% homeowners. The program budget is $4.9 million for FY2026 (down from $6 million in prior years due to reallocation for migration response). Councilmembers discussed sunsetting renters given the availability of other rental assistance (e.g., TRUA), but noted such a move requires careful consideration. Councilmember Alvidrez asked about integration with MyFriendBen; Councilmember Espinoza questions on unspent rollover and caps; Councilmember Lewis noted the 10‑year occupancy requirement of state programs (not in the city program). Councilmember Gonzalez raised a question about whether landlords receiving the rebate could pass savings to renters. No vote was taken; the proposal is set for a February 3, 2025 committee meeting.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken on either agenda item.
- Councilmember Sawyer will consider hiring a consultant to study TDM options and may bring back a refined proposal.
- The Property Tax Rebate Policy will be brought to committee on February 3, 2026 for further discussion and potential ordinance amendments.
- Council staff will follow up on questions about renter phase‑out, landlord pass‑throughs, and outreach improvements.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome back to this biweekly meeting of the budget and policy committee of Denver City Council. Join us for the discussion as the budget and policy committee starts now. Have the honor of being chair of budget and policy. We have a great agenda before us today. But before we get started, let's go around the room and I'll start to my left. Hi, Councilwoman Shanto and Lewis, District 8. Good afternoon, Darren Watson. Fine, District 9. Hi, everyone. So I can tell you that as one of your council members at large. Good afternoon. Paul Cashman South Denver District Six. Amanda Sorry, District 5. Lucky District 7. Kevin Flynn, Southwest Denver's District 2. Stacey Gilmore, District 11. Hey Denver, Chris Hines, Denver. Perfect 10. All right, thank you. First up, oh, Councilman, and then everyone online. Thank you. Damie Torres with Denver District 3. Okay, perfect. So first up, we have Councilman Sawyer with transportation demand management policy. Take it away. The floor is yours. And council members, if you'd like to get in the queue, just use Teams or get my attention. All right. Well, thank you. You guys are gonna hear a lot from me today, so I will try and keep this as short as possible. So the first item that I'm bringing to you guys today is uh a look at our transportation demand management and kind of um what we might do differently or better. So for those of you who don't remember, I voted no on removing parking minimums at the night of the hearing. I did so for two reasons, and I said this on the floor. The first reason is because I think we should have sued the state for a massive overreach of local control. Um, and the second reason is because we don't have a parking problem in Denver. We have an overparking problem in Denver. Um, and so I started kind of thinking through what could we do differently? What could we do to kind of address this problem? Um, and I want to just give a huge shout out to Dottie, especially Nathan, um, and and also to CPD, because I I've been kicking around an idea uh for a potential solution to this, and I just want to present it to you all so you know I'm thinking about it and kind of get your feedback on what you guys think about it. So um we'll just get started with a little bit of our agenda. Next slide. Um, so we know our TDM ordinance was signed into law in 2021. It is an ordinance that is administered by Dottie. Um, and and we'll talk a little bit about exactly what it does, but since then, some of the changes to state law have um impacted the way our TDM ordinance works. Um, and so it Dottie has been working on some updates to it on the policies and procedures, rules and regs side of things to help kind of address that challenge. Um, but I want to I want to go a little further if we can. Next slide, please. So um just to talk a little bit about what projects are covered by the Transportation Demand Management Ordinance that exists right now. Um, this is a fantastic graphic that Dottie provided us. Uh so tier one and two projects must develop a TDM plan, and the point of that transportation demand management or TDM plan um is to reduce single occupancy vehicle trips in our city, right?
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