5 policy changes that take effect in Denver in 2022

The New Year is here, and with it come policy changes that will impact Denverites.

Here's what to know in 2022.

🚗 Parking meter rates double: The price to park has jumped from $1 to $2 per hour, marking Denver's first increase in two decades.

• City officials plan to use that extra revenue to generate $9.2 million annually for investments in public transit, bikeways, sidewalk repairs and street safety improvements.

😷 Mask mandate carries on: Mayor Michael Hancock's administration extended its mask-or-vaccinate requirement through at least Feb. 3.

• The mandate, which would have expired today, results from rapidly rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations spurred by the Omicron variant.

💰 Minimum wage increases: Employers must pay $15.87 per hour, up from $14.77 required last year, to all staff performing work within city boundaries.

• The pay boost is the third of three increases that have occurred annually since 2020. Annual adjustments will be made at the start of 2023 and each year thereafter based on the Consumer Price Index.

🗑 Trash pickup days switch: New routes rolling out today will reduce trash pickups to four days and require 70% of Denver customers to set out bins on a different day.

• The route alterations, the first changes in at least 15 years, are expected to make pickup services more efficient.

🏘️ Landlords need licenses: Denver landlords must apply for long-term rental licenses for each of their properties due to an ordinance passed last year that requires them to have obtained those licenses by Jan. 1, 2023.

• The ordinance represents one of the largest licensing expansions in Denver history.

This story first appeared in the Axios Denver newsletter, designed to help readers get smarter, faster on the most consequential news unfolding in their own backyard.