Free Republic

In addition to the off-year elections to be decided this November in Virginia, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi, a number of ballot initiatives will be voted on in other states. Perhaps the most consequential measure appearing on the November 2023 ballot, at least when it comes to fiscal policy, is found in Colorado, where voters will be asked whether they want to weaken the nation’s strongest tax and expenditure limit in exchange for property tax relief. Proposition HH, which was referred to the November ballot by Colorado lawmakers with the support of Governor Jared Polis (D), would weaken the state’s Taxpayer’s...

Legislative Democrats have been scheming to kill Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR, since before it was added to the state Constitution in 1992. Hardly a year goes by without a bill, proposal, “listening tour,” or lawsuit hatched to enable state legislators to spend money TABOR denies them. Now, they’re at it again. This time, they’ve proposed a Rube-Goldberg ballot initiative called Proposition HH. Some of its superficial details might seem novel — like lipstick on the proverbial pig — but it’s only the latest gambit in a political long-con that has gotten very, very old. That’s why the...

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...

The devil is in the details behind all the weekend media headlines proclaiming equal TABOR refunds, but only if voters approve Prop HH that is disguised as a property tax cut. It’s a con job that would make Charles Ponzi proud. The last hour bill comes as the legislative session grinds to a close today. It came with zero review or input from the public and most of your elected lawmakers. The bill — sponsored by Democratic Reps. Chris deGruy Kennedy and Mike Weissman, as well as Democratic Sens. Chris Hansen and Nick Hinrichsen — was immediately heard Saturday afternoon...

Suppose someone offers to help you pay your bills — then reaches into your pocket, grabs your wallet, pulls out some money and hands it to you. That’s more or less what Gov. Jared Polis and his Democratic allies who run the Legislature have in mind in promising “relief” for Coloradans facing skyrocketing property taxes. Unveiled by the governor at a Monday news conference and introduced the same day in the Legislature as Senate Bill 23-303, the complicated proposal would ask voters on next November’s statewide ballot to pay for a large part of their own property-tax relief. That’s right;...

If you’ve opened your property tax assessment you’ve already had your coronary. Your property value has gone up between 30% and 70%.. That means because the Legislature, under Democrat Gov. Bill Ritter, froze mill levy rates (preventing them from lowering) and because voters foolishly repealed the Gallagher Amendment in 2020, your property taxes are going to go up some 30% to 70% next year. But don’t worry. The same people who have put you in this bind are going to pantomime rescuing you just as the clock runs out on their legislative session. What heroes. The Colorado state Legislature, with...

Energy customers, many of whom say they are being crushed by gas and electricity bills that have doubled, tripled and even quadrupled in the last few months – accepted the Colorado Public Utility Commission’s invitation to comment on skyrocketing energy prices, and it wasn’t pretty. Dawn Fetzko, a customer, said she learned about the public meeting while watching the news. “We're working trying to earn a living and now trying to earn a living to pay our utility bill,” she said. “I know my utility bill went from $150 to a shocking $365 in one month.” “It's no secret that...

The federal appeals court based in Denver has dismissed the long-running lawsuit seeking to void Colorado's Taxpayer Bill of Rights, finding in a 7-2 decision that a collection of local governments has no basis to challenge the 1992 constitutional amendment. Chief Judge Timothy M. Tymkovich, writing for himself and six of his colleagues, concluded that the Boulder County Board of County Commissioners, a handful of school districts and one special district failed to show that the 1875 Enabling Act that guaranteed to Colorado a "republican" form of government had also given the local government entities the ability to challenge TABOR's...

If you watch the news, chances are you’ve heard about the recent spending and tax bills making their way through the U.S. House of Representatives or the Senate. These bills could have a direct impact on your bottom line, so they garner considerable attention. But are you keeping track of the laws Colorado’s General Assembly is passing? If not, you might want to start. Indeed, during the 2021 legislative session, Colorado legislators passed $1.8 billion in new taxes and fees. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. As a result of tax bills and laws passed since 2019, direct...

With the 2021 Colorado regular legislative session concluded, lawmakers have approved tax and fee increases on Coloradans of up to $617 million annually without voter consent. The new revenues are enough to give every schoolteacher in Colorado a $11,343.65 per year raise. The tax and fee increases amount to an average of $430 per year for a family of four. New and Net Revenue.. This session, 83 bills passed by the legislature would increase state revenue. Senate Legislative Council (SLC) included revenue projections for 45 of these in fiscal notes for each. Some fiscal notes provide an estimated range rather...

Let’s see if you can find a common theme of what the Colorado State legislature thinks of you and the will of the voters. Voters soundly rejected Prop 112 which would have created large setbacks for oil and gas operations, enough to chase the industry out of Colorado. The legislature’s and governor’s retort was to pass Senate Bill 181, which was even more brutal to Colorado’s oil and gas industry. And yes, the industry is leaving. It’s one of the reasons Colorado’s unemployment is worse than most all other states. Just last November voters passed Prop 117 to end the...

Democrats in the General Assembly have managed to give every explanation imaginable for why you have to pay more — during an economic crisis — for what should have been a top spending priority for Colorado lawmakers over the last decade. They’ve done a fine job at gaslighting the people of Colorado into believing that not only is there no other solution to funding our roads and bridges than Senate Bill 260, but that the shortage of funds we’re experiencing today is indeed your fault. It’s not the only solution, and it is not your fault that our roads and...

It was only three months ago that we lowly voters passed Prop 117 to stop the state legislature from raising taxes without our consent by calling them new “fees.” Thanks to our Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, we get to vote on tax increases. Well, at least we did until our TABOR-loathing state Supreme Court ruled that taxes labeled a “fee” need no consent. We just want consensual taxation. Now, the legislature is already entertaining a colossal tax increase, again, without our consent, this time for transportation. The dodge they plan to get around 117 is to immensely increase an existing...

The Democratic-leaning issue committee is supporting Proposition CC, which seeks to eliminate state spending caps under TABOR. Turnout among Democrats for the 2019 election has been low. Coloradans for Prosperity, a deep-pocketed group working to pass Proposition CC on November’s ballot, has been sending people a voter “report card” in an effort to boost turnout. The report cards grade recipients on their recent voting record compared to their neighbors, urging them to cast their ballots. Some voters have been frustrated by the mailers, however, saying they incorrectly give them a poor mark on their turnout. “Public records indicate that you...

This November, Proposition CC will ask Colorado voters to permanently lift the spending limits in the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, but the political stakes embedded in the question are even more consequential. The ballot question represents the most significant overhaul to TABOR since voters approved the constitutional provision in 1992, and serves as a test case for a broader Democratic effort to overhaul how the state levies taxes and spends money. If voters approve Prop. CC, Democratic leaders and their allies believe it would give them momentum for a broader agenda to revamp property tax rates, increase taxes for key...

As Coloradans consider Proposition CC and the fate of our Taxpayer Bill of Rights this November, we should bear in mind the lessons of Novembers past. In 2005, voters were promised that if the state were allowed to keep the excess revenue that should have been refunded to taxpayers under TABOR, the money would be used to boost education spending. Referendum C was approved, but the money never made it to the classroom. “Spending on programs not associated with Referendum C has grown more than twice as fast as spending on education and health care,” former state Treasurer Mark Hillman...

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2016, Colorado collected $25.4 billion in state and local taxes—or $4,590 for every man, woman, and child. While this is an impressive sum of money, it tells us little about whether or not the average Colorado taxpayer can afford this level of taxation. ... Colorado’s state and local tax burden (tax collections divided by private sector personal income) was the sixth lowest in the nation for FY 2016 at 11.8 percent—or -17 percent below the national average of 14.3 percent. ... Colorado’s tax burden has increased over time by only 3 percent to 11.8 percent in...

Prior to the start of the legislative session in January, Republican Senate President Kevin Grantham said restructuring a hospital fee to raise money for state services was off the table. Republicans prior to the session also pushed a familiar narrative of using existing tax revenue and fighting against any tax increases. But then came bills backed by prominent high-profile Republicans aimed at a tax increase for roads and a restructuring of the Hospital Provider Fee. While the $3.5 billion transportation proposal never gained enough GOP support to send the issue to voters, historic progress was made on the Hospital Provider...

Last week, Governor John Hickenlooper announced a $100 million plan to make Colorado “the best state for biking.” ... Of the total $100 million, about 70 percent will come from CDOT

Despite fury from lawmakers the day before, Colorado’s health exchange board voted on Thursday to collect millions of additional dollars from all Colorado health insurance customers, even those who have nothing to do with the exchange. On top of that “broad market assessment,” the board also voted to more than double the user fees levied on people who buy insurance through Colorado’s exchange. .. The higher broad market fee is projected to allow Connect for Health Colorado to scoop up about about $20 million in 2016. It has been set at $1.25 per member per month on all health insurance...