River and Root Photography
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I own and operate Watercourse Foods and City, O’ City restaurants in the heart of Denver. For over a decade, my team and I have worked hard to create jobs, serve our community with our trademark delicious food and welcoming vibes, and contribute to the local culture that makes Denver so special. But over the past four to five years, I’ve watched too many fellow independent restaurants and small businesses close their doors: Something has got to give.
Every week, another neighborhood mainstay disappears, and it’s for the same reasons: costs have skyrocketed while sales fall short of pre-pandemic levels. A recent restaurant report backs up what I see every day: Between inflation, labor challenges, rising rent and property taxes, food costs and changing consumer habits, the math of running a small restaurant in Denver has become harder than ever to justify. It just doesn’t add up anymore.
Individuals and small business owners like me pay a lot to be in Denver, and the truth is that it costs more to live and operate here than what many of us can earn back. Small businesses are looking to our city and state leaders for practical ways to help control the rising costs pushing our restaurant community towards extinction.
One major expense that’s quietly draining local businesses is credit-card swipe fees, the charges that Visa and Mastercard take from every transaction made at my restaurants. Over time, these fees have grown into one of our largest operating costs, after payroll and rent. My businesses pay around $137,000 annually just on those fees, and unlike other expenses, we have no ability to negotiate them. The rates are set by massive financial corporations, and small businesses like mine are forced to absorb them.
Watercourse Foods
Did you know that we also pay those same fees on the sales taxes we collect and remit to our state and local governments? That’s not money I can keep or invest back into higher wages for my staff or fixing equipment in my restaurants; it’s thousands of dollars every year that goes directly to the major credit card companies, away from our staff and our community.
Swipe fees are enormously profitable for credit card companies. In 2024 alone, Colorado businesses paid $217 million in swipe fees just on sales taxes, a massive corporate windfall built off dollars that small businesses like mine simply pass through.
Meanwhile, restaurants are trying to survive on margins that make other industries cringe: Over the last few years, it’s cost us more to operate than what we make in sales. When swipe fees take thousands from our bottom line, there’s truly nowhere left to make up the difference.
That’s why Senators William Lindstedt and Iman Jodeh, House Speaker Julie McCluskie and Majority Leader Monica Duran have introduced a bill to fix these predatory fees, help the local restaurant industry, and keep small businesses like mine open. Senate Bill 26-134, the Swipe Fee Relief Act, is a common-sense effort that would ensure that the swipe fees on sales taxes are excluded from the total swipe fees we pay, preventing credit card companies from profiting on money that doesn’t belong to them. This is a simple, targeted fix that would deliver immediate relief to restaurants and small businesses across Colorado.
For operators like me, it would mean thousands of dollars each year staying in my businesses so I can reinvest it in our teams, our operations and our communities.
Credit card companies don’t need this money. Independent restaurants, local retailers and Colorado workers do.
A lot needs to be done to address the cost crisis facing Denver and its small businesses. But HB 26-134 is one concrete step that lawmakers can take right now, when we need it most.
Passing swipe fee reform in 2026 won’t solve every challenge that small businesses face, but it will make a real difference in keeping Denver’s neighborhoods vibrant, our local economy strong, and longtime community gathering places open for years to come. I support Senate Bill 26-134, and hope local lawmakers will, too.
On weekends, we publish commentaries on matters of interest to the Denver community on westword.com; occasionally we share a piece on a weekday, too, when there’s a time hook (such as the vote on this bill tomorrow). Have one you’d like to submit? Send it to editorial@westword.com, where you can also comment on this piece.
