Posted on 08/07/2023 9:20:57 AM PDT by george76
Property-tax relief? Hardly.
Proposition HH on this fall’s statewide ballot is really about growing government. And it attempts to do that by piggybacking on public outrage over skyrocketing property tax bills.
The proposal’s purported property-tax “relief” — served up by Gov. Jared Polis and his legislative allies as one part of their dizzyingly complicated scheme — is a ruse.
As with every attempt to play politics with a crisis, there’s a hidden agenda. And that agenda is to snooker Colorado voters into letting the state keep and spend billions of dollars in surplus tax revenue that otherwise would have to be returned to the public by law.
Don’t be deceived; the property-tax relief in Prop. HH is a scam. The proposal actually would make voters pay for it out of their own pockets — using the excess tax collections they’re supposed to get back — and then would let the state keep the change.
That was clear enough in May when Polis signed Senate Bill 23-303 into law, setting the ballot measure in motion. But it all became even clearer last week when Colorado Politics reported on the campaign contributions that will be used to pitch the measure to voters.
Backers so far have raised $360,000, according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office records — and almost all of it has come from wealthy Coloradans and organizations with ties to Democrats, including to Gov. Jared Polis.
Fully $100,000 of the contributions came from Stryker Medical Equipment heir and billionaire Pat Stryker, a long-time funder of Democratic causes in Colorado. She has given more than $7.4 million to Democratic-aligned causes since 2006.
A $50,000 donation came from the political committee Boldly Forward, which started out as Polis' transition committee when he first was elected governor in 2018 but since has moved into advocacy for assorted policies popular with the Democrat Party.
...
The Democratic-leaning Colorado Education Association — the state’s largest teachers union — also gave to the cause. So did the Washington, D.C.-based Sixteen Thirty Fund, a super-heavyweight political committee that doesn’t disclose its funders and has given millions of dollars nationwide to Democratic Party-aligned causes over the years.
So, what’s in it for all of them? They want more spending on programs they support. Over the long haul, HH would accomplish that with a windfall of new revenue to state coffers.
Prop. HH’s nominal tax relief involves lowering the statewide assessment rate slightly for residential and commercial property for 10 years. That would marginally reduce what will still be increasing property-tax revenue flowing to local governments. HH would backfill that reduction with the surplus revenue collected by the state above constitutional spending limits.
That’s assuming voters agree to be fleeced.
The upshot for the state is if Prop. HH passes, it likely will be hauling in an additional $2.2 billion that otherwise would go back to taxpayers over the coming decade.
The bottom line for taxpayers is Prop. HH is a ripoff.
They will lose far more over time by giving up their refunds than they’ll gain in modest property tax relief. Indeed, that relief won’t even come close to offsetting the soaring tax bills that are expected to rise up to 50% for some homeowners when tax bills go out next spring.
In short, Prop. HH wouldn’t just charge taxpayers for their own property-tax relief, it would overcharge them. And it would pocket the difference to grow government. Meanwhile, it would shortchange them on tax relief, too.
No wonder the usual suspects are on board.
Colorado Ping ( Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)
Just what the state needs. More government.
Look for the teachers union label.
Preparation H?...................
If Colorado didn’t have a commie sorosian running elections, this might matter.
Sadly, griswold is still in power.
“Sadly, griswold is still in power.”
She just has the FBI bust her opposition and for the local sheriff to harass them.
The leftist cancer continues to spread from California.
They’re after TABOR, and they may get it.
As in HAW?
?
The Silver King, HAW Tabor
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