(The Center Square) – The costs for assisting migrants arriving in Denver could amount to $500 per household in the city, according to a report from the Common Sense Institute.
The think tank’s analysis highlighted the growing concern regarding the city’s financial ability to provide services for arriving migrants.
“If the Denver mayor’s recent spending projections of $180 million hold true, the city will have spent several city departments’ worth of general funding by the end of 2024,” the report stated. “To date, spending has come from a combination of federal, state, and city funds, but it is unclear how the city would be able to spend the projected 2024 amount.”
The city’s expenditures don’t fully account for money and resources to serve the migrant population in Colorado. Services provided by nonprofit organizations, hospitals and first responders aren’t included in Denver’s spending. However, the city is providing shelter, food and other services in collaboration with local nonprofits.
To put the migration situation in perspective, the report stated the total number of children born in the U.S. in 2022 was 3.6 million and there were 3.2 million migrant encounters at U.S. borders in fiscal year 2023. More than 35,400 migrants arrived in Denver since last January, the highest number relative to a state’s population of any state not on the southern border.
“The cost is growing as new shelters open and the city begins covering some migrants’ rent (one month of rent for migrants with jobs and three months of rent for those without),” the report stated. “The City is opening a new congregate shelter but wants to transition migrants to permanent shelter from there.”
Denver is providing shelter, food and other services through local non-profits. At the end of October 2023, the CSI projected Denver would spend between $36.3 million and $39.1 million by the end of the year, an increase of between $8.3 million and $11.1 million or 30% to 40%.
“According to the same CSI model that accurately predicted the City’s total migrant spending through last December, additional spending through 2024 could reach $55.5 million at the current rate of daily arrivals,” the report stated. “Budgets reflect policy choices. Policy makers and the public should carefully weigh trade-offs prior to turning projections into budgetary commitments.”
