ARVADA, Colo. (CBS4)- The City of Arvada is renting sprawling, city-owned homes for well below market value. A CBS4 Investigation found the deeply discounted rental homes are only available to city employees, not the general public.
“Being a city employee they have an obligation to the city and I think they feel that they work for the city, they want to do the right thing by the city,” said Arvada’s Deputy City Manager Maria Vanderkolk, explaining the employee-only arrangement.
Vanderkolk acknowledged the city could make much more money off its rentals by putting them on the open market, but she said that wouldn’t really work.
“We don’t have the staff to be property managers so this makes it easier for us to have that contractual relationship with our own employees,” said Vanderkolk.
One of the homes the city rents out is a 5,000 square foot, three bedroom, six bathroom home with a three car attached garage. The home on west 71st Avenue, boasts expansive views of Arvada’s Majestic View Park.
Kirk Nagle, a supervisor with Arvada’s building inspection department, has been living there since at least 1999, paying $1,000 a month for the last twelve years.
“I would say you think it’s a good deal until you do all the work,” said Nagle. “Its not easy.”
Nagle said he is expected to water the yard, maintain the landscaping and sprinkler system and do minor upkeep and repairs in exchange for the low rent. Nagle said he has painted the garage doors, cleaned gutters and replaced a dishwasher at his own expense.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a good deal or a bad deal,” said Nagle. “It’s not up to me.”
Nagle, and other city employees renting city homes, are also expected to act as the cities “eyes and ears” and report vandalism or suspicious activity around the rental homes and in Majestic View Park.
“Those are all obligations we ask our employees to take on,” said Vanderkolk. “It still remains profitable for us.”
Not far from Nagle’s home is a 4,000 square foot, four bedroom, two bathroom, two story home on Garrison Street in the Huntington Heights neighborhood.
City records show it has been rented to Joel Raker, an employee of Arvada’s Parks Department since 2004 for $1,000 per month. When asked what his friends say when he tells them he rents the home for $1,000 a month and the rent hasn’t increased in seven years, Raker said, “They say ‘That’s a great deal.’ I mean it’s lower than the market value,” said Raker.
In exchange for the cheap rent, the city asks him to keep an eye out for trouble, maintain the landscaping and open and close a nearby park gate whenever he is asked.
The City rents another single family home to one of its employees for $800 a month. Yet another house near Majestic View Park is leased to a city worker for $300 a month.
The Deputy City Manager said years ago, the city rented its homes to members of the public but had bad experiences, so decided to only rent to city workers.
“It’s definitely a benefit for us,” said Vanderkolk. “We’ve seen it that way for a long time.”
Brian Mass CBS 4
