Denver Mayor Wants Tax Break for Poor

Denver may become the first city in the nation to give its working poor an earned income tax credit, which could put as much as $800 in their pockets even though they don’t pay city income tax. Mayor Wellington Webb has proposed the credit as a way to help lower-income families survive in the city’s booming economy, which has increased the costs of basic necessities, such as housing. Under Webb’s proposal, the city would link its tax credit to credits already offered by the state and federal governments. The credit would amount to a city version of the federal earned income tax credit program.