AURORA | Aurora lawmakers on Monday rejected the suggestion that the city compensate for falling marijuana tax revenues by investing other funds in local homelessness service agencies, meaning food and shelter programs will likely be scaled back in 2024.
Conservative council members argued that agencies should ask their donors for more money rather than rely on the city and fluctuating marijuana tax dollars for funding.
“This is not guaranteed money. This is not just a guaranteed handout,” Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky said. “I know how budgets work. Go fundraise.”
READ: Homeless advocates and program managers issue dire warnings about potential program cuts
Aurora taxes retail marijuana sales to fund services for the city’s homeless residents as well as youth violence prevention programs. Pot sales have declined as the COVID-19 pandemic has waned — in September, the city reported that marijuana sales tax revenues fell by 11% in 2022 and that revenues were down by about 8.5% in 2023 compared to the previous year.
In total, the amount of marijuana funds available to homelessness services agencies dropped from $3.9 million for 2023 to $1.4 million for 2024. COVID-19 relief funds are also drying up, as pandemic-specific grants end and the city’s remaining American Rescue Plan Act money is spent down.
Monday’s agenda item included a list of staff recommendations for about $2 million in grants to be awarded to eight agencies. Service providers have said the multi-million dollar cut will jeopardize programs such as Mile High Behavioral Healthcare’s cold-weather shelter and meal services, and the Pallet shelters operated by the Salvation Army.
On Monday, Councilmember Alison Coombs suggested that the council use other city funds to continue funding organizations at 2023 levels.
“All of these agencies are continuing to provide or intend to continue to provide the same level of service, if not more,” Coombs said. “If we’re continuing to spend the money we spend on (encampment) sweeps and other programs, but we don’t have anywhere for people to go, that’s going to make the problems worse of community members contacting us and asking why the sweeps aren’t working.”
Deputy City Manager Roberto Venegas said there was $300,000 in unspent ARPA funds that could be used to make up part of the $2.5 million shortfall in marijuana tax revenues.
But conservatives on the city council rejected the idea, with Councilmember Curtis Gardner saying the city and Aurora households have had to make cuts to account for economic conditions, suggesting agencies should also learn to work with smaller contributions from the city.
He proposed that the council sign off on the grant recommendations but not try to find other funds to make up for the shortfall.
“To think that money coming from the government in the form of a grant is ongoing and promised forever is really inappropriate,” Gardner said. “We have need after need in this city. We have a capital projects list that is nearly a billion dollars long.”
Councilmember Francoise Bergan initially suggested that the council put off voting on the grant recommendations until January but ultimately agreed with Gardner’s proposal along with a majority of the council.
Progressives Ruben Medina and Coombs both objected to the proposal moving forward from Monday’s study session, with Coombs saying she objected “in the strongest terms to leaving our most vulnerable residents, who are literally going to die, to die.”
Councilmember Crystal Murillo said she agreed with Coombs’ objections but would support the item in the interests of giving agencies “something rather than nothing.”
The council is scheduled to vote on the recommendations Nov. 27.
Nov. 15, 2023,
https://denverite.com/2023/11/15/aurora-migrant-response/
“Migrants are settling in Aurora, but the city isn’t mobilizing to provide assistance. A brigade of nonprofits are stepping up”
“But unlike in Denver, the city and county governments in Aurora are not mobilizing to provide shelter and other assistance to people who are arriving. They are not visibly advocating for federal resources or drawing attention to the impact all of these arrivals have on the city’s existing residents.”
“Anecdotally, I don’t feel this is going to stop for some time unless there’s some drastic measures taken at the border. Folks continue to come, and they find northwest Aurora, for whatever reason, as their final destination,” Alvarez said.
“A spokesman for the city of Aurora also declined CPR News’ interview request.”
How much of this city limited funding has gone to these various non-profits in Aurora that have these “migrants” that have now settled in the city? Is the city staff bothering to demand financials to find out where these non-profits are spending tax money? Or is this willy- nilly hand-outs? I suspect the city is fairly loose with this money and staff is not that inclined to look to deep or concerned. Do these non-profits operating in the city even holding required city business licenses? I suspect here again it’s pretty loose. Is anyone on this council going to take the bull by the horns and start their own investigations and look at the books and really see what the records look like? Does this city want to come face to face with reality about the illegal asylum seekers? I think not!
If we build a perrmanent infrastructure we will have a permanent problem. And yes, winter is coming and some will die from the cold if they don’t take appropriate measures such as sobering up and getting a job to pay for food and shelter, or alternatively migrating to where it is warmer and the land flows with milk and honey, like Guatemala. There could be a southbound migrant caravan passing the northbound ones on the road.
I hear El Salvador is actually a nice and extremely safe place to be now that Bukele threw most of the gang members in prison. Maybe we should consider that here as well.
Wow. Just wow. The right just loathes people. Why not just round up the homeless and put them in camps or drop them on a deserted island? It’s what they want, so just say it.
Magic that money, land, and housing out of thin air, Andrea, millions of people here and across the world are depending on you.
There will still be emergency shelter from the cold. People will still get fed. As Jurinsky notes, the city cannot be an open spigot of homeless spending. If there’s anything to be learned despite their recent windfall (or Denver’s perpetual failure) it’s that more spending is not the solution. It’s time to get serious about treating those who are willing to free themselves from their addictions and mental illness. Time for the counties, churches, families, charities, and the individual homeless themselves to step up. I applaud the council for their fiscal responsibility.
You don’t reward mental illness and drug addiction with free things in perpetuity. You aren’t living in reality, you would rather them stay in their current situation than push them to change. We are not liable as a community for the bad choices of other people. Rewarding bad behavior is the epitome of leftism, though.
” the scariest 8 words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government and here to help” Ronald Reagan
The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help
I feel that news is bypass and selected information from a persons owned view of information. Not sure if the information is correct or wrong but given the way information is distributed its likely false and not bias as intended. By the news reporter interpretation.
It’s probably time for these people to stop using what money they have for drugs and think instead of surviving.
Actually most of the homeless suffer from debilitating mental health issues which make it difficult to maintain jobs, relationship’s, and many others of your requirements. As such peoples lack of empathy and compassion leave these people hopelessly alone leaving them to fall victim to any number of situations. Including Rape, (both male and female), predatory drug pushers, assault, and death. But we shouldn’t help them because of… your preconceived notions of who they are?
“Empathy and compassion” are meaning generalities that don’t actually solve the problems of mass society.
Well, we elected a Conservative council, we should expect Conservative cruelty. Housing and helping the homeless is the cheapest way of getting them off the streets, but our Republican majority apparently thinks we can punish them into solvency. Study after study shows that housing them, treating their addictions and training them for work is the cheapest way to deal with homelessness, but since it doesn’t involve punishing them for whatever got them into the situation, nor does the city get to levy fines it will never collect and soon wind up housing them in prisons, the Conservative council does not favor it. Has someone found a way to get rich off of homelessness? Because that would be an explanation of the Conservative position that does not involve cruelty, merely greed.
More emotional claptrap. Money is finite, good intentions and crocodile tears are endless.
Thank you, new City Council members for remembering that there are at least 100,000 citizens in Aurora who believe in self determination and responsibility is what the American Way is built upon, not socialism and hand outs to those that do not buy into the American Way.
Thank you, new City Council members for remembering that Alison Coombs will double talk into giving our tax dollars to anyone that is poor and that is not what American government is built upon. Remember she makes her decisions from a lesbian, anti police, Democratic Socialist and Buddhist way of thinking. This, to me, is so far from the American Way that citizens of Aurora should always be reminded that is how she thinks.
With the new Mayor in Denver, being so vocal about serving the homeless population, I’m wondering if there is a homeless “pipeline” in metro Denver, won’t the word spread and the homeless in Aurora will adopt Denver and leave here? Could you help them along?
Dick – We knew we could count on you to make disgustingly horrible remarks about Alison Coombs.
We get it – you don’t like her. However, there are
thousands of people that DID vote for her and
wish her the best. She actually broke records for
the number of votes she received.
She has served the City of Aurora and made a huge
difference for years.
What have YOU done lately for our City other than writing nasty comments????
Not sure that Alison getting a handful more votes than a conservative candidate — in a city that is overwhelmingly Democrat, where eligible Democrat voters outnumber eligible Republicans 2-1, and where she was clearly identified as the “Democrat” in all of her literature and signage — is worth an endzone dance. You should probably focus more on Marcano’s embarrassing beat-down or the ward races where the Democrats lost by 20 points. Aurorans (D, R and I) sent a message that they are sick of alt-left socialist ideology.
Does ignoring the problem make it go away. We need leadership from our City Council and not members who bury their head in the sand!
You either help or don’t. You are either part of the solution or the problem. If there is no empathy, there is no humanity!
Translation: “Stick ’em up!”