AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — A city study says a new homeless shelter could cost Aurora about $76 million, or roughly $205 per city resident.
Aurora will have some decisions to make about how and how much it spends on homelessness before police start enforcing the city’s public camping ban.
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman told FOX31 last week that the city is not prepared to enforce a camping ban that took effect on Saturday. In part, it’s because the city has not yet built out shelter options for those that will have to move from their camping spots.
Monday night, the city council will review a study that outlays the costs of several temporary and permanent shelter options.
In the short term, the city has identified several options for temporary shelters. These range from the oft-used hotel vouchers to heated ice fishing tents to a warehouse lease.
The startup costs and timeframes for these housing options are low and quick. Hotel vouchers cost $60 per person. To get up and running, a system of heated ice fishing tents would cost $500,000, pallet shelters $1.15 million, a day services center $750,000 and a leased warehouse $2.5 million.
Permanent shelter options would potentially cost much more.
The city could purchase several properties to turn into permanent shelters for those experiencing homelessness.
An office, motel and warehouse would each cost roughly $5 million apiece. The most expensive option would combine both temporary and permanent shelters.
Aurora could start a new permanent shelter that offers temporary shelter and day services for $76.3 million.
Source : https://kdvr.com/news/data/aurora-205-per-resident-for-new-homeless-shelters/
