Monthly Archives: October 2019

Oct 11

Update on anti-TABOR lawsuit

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The federal lawsuit to repeal TABOR through the courts took an expected step recently.  The team bringing the lawsuit has been arguing that TABOR restricts legislators’ ability to act.  The lawsuit is now known as “Kerr vs. Polis”.  The first question, which our  side thought was settled by the US Supreme Court’s ruling on a similar Arizona case, is whether the lawsuit can be brought by the plaintiffs – that is, do those entities have “standing”?  The most recent argument, available at this link http://www.scribd.com/document/429794251/19-09-30-Appellants-Response-to-Governors-Pt-for-Rehearing-en-Banc is the plaintiffs’ written argument that the 10th Circuit should drop the issue of standing and allow the case to proceed directly.

A three-judge panel found that the amended list of plaintiffs could bring the lawsuit and therefore it could proceed on the merits.  The defenders of TABOR believe that this was an errant ruling and the dissenting justice was very direct, saying that the plaintiffs’ argument “…. is so meager as to constitute waiver. Moreover, their argument—insofar as I am able to piece it together—also fails on the merits.”  We hope that the entire 10th Circuit Court of Appeals will agree to hear the appeal again (“en banc”).  The Court of Appeals can be expected to accept or decline the Motion reasonably soon, according to a Colorado attorney familiar with the case.  The TABOR Foundation has been monitoring this situation in conjunction with the National Federation of Independent Business, with whom we partnered in previous amicus filings.

 

Oct 08

More out of state money rolls in to support Proposition CC; over $350K from NYC-based group

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#TABOR
#DontLoseYourRights
#DontGetFooledAgain
#VoteNoOnPropositionCC
#TABORMatters

DENVER — A New York City-based organization has doubled down on getting involved in Colorado’s election this year.

More specifically, Education Reform Now Advocacy (ERNA), which initially sent the “Coloradans for Prosperity aka Yes on Prop CC” campaign committee $100,000 to push a ballot effort to permanently eliminate tax refunds under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), sent another $352,000 to the campaign, according to a Major Contributors Report filed by Yes on CC Monday.

According to the ERNA website, it believes that “every child should receive an adequate and equitable allocation of resources no matter their race, socioeconomic status, or zip code nor whether they are enrolled in a traditional district-run public school or public charter school.”

Dan Ritchie, Chancellor Emeritus of the University of Denver told a crowd of mostly Democrat law makers, teachers and students who officially kicked off the campaign last week, that they needed to beware of money from outside of Colorado being spent from the opposition, referring to Americans for Prosperity (AFP), a Washington D.C.-based organization.

According to AFPs website, it advances “policies that will help people improve their lives.” AFP Colorado recently spent nearly $500,000 on a media campaign to oppose Prop CC.

Although both AFP and ERNA have Colorado offices, the difference in the two organizations is their direct ties to the official yes and no on CC groups.

AFP is an independent group making its own decisions on how to target the No on CC message. ERNA is donating directly to the Yes on CC campaign, which will determine how to spend the money.

The additional revenue puts the Yes on CC campaign at slightly more than $2 million in donations, while No on CC has reported only $17,000 in total contributions.

To read the rest of this story, please click (HERE):

Oct 08

How Colorado officials manipulate ballot language to get what they want: The case of JeffCo Issue 1A

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How Colorado officials manipulate ballot language to get what they want: The case of JeffCo Issue 1A

Some people bemoan the lack of trust in government officials. Those people should read more. They could start by learning how many of Colorado’s officials ruthlessly manipulate ballot language to mislead voters and skew election results.

Jefferson County’s Ballot Issue 1A—up for a vote next month—is a case in point.

Issue 1A is a referendum under the Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR). TABOR requires officials to ask voter permission, via referendum, for several kinds of fiscal decisions. The most important are (1) raising taxes, (2) creating debt, and (3) waiving caps on government spending (which TABOR sometimes confusingly calls “revenue”).

Knowing that government officials sometimes try to manipulate elections, the TABOR drafters inserted rules governing how tax and debt issues appear on the ballot. But they omitted similar rules for elections to waive spending caps.

The reasons for the omission are not clear. Perhaps it was an oversight. Or perhaps the drafters thought rules were unnecessary, because waivers were to last a maximum of four years. If a waiver was abused, the abuse would soon be over and voters could hold the guilty officials accountable.

But in 2002, the Colorado Court of Appeals issued a case seriously misinterpreting TABOR. The court ruled that once the voters in a particular locale approve a spending cap waiver, the waiver does not necessarily expire. The waiver may specify five years, or seven, or ten. If it does not contain an ending date, the waiver lasts forever. TABOR spending caps never apply in that locale again.

To read the rest of this story, please click (HERE):

Oct 08

“Better government for you: Not hiding elections!”

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“Better government for you:  Not hiding elections!”

October 7, 2019

There is much to like in the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), and it’s good to remember that it includes good government provisions that improve election procedures.

None of us want to put up with elected officials holding a surprise election for voter approval of a government’s action.  Yet, there were times in the past in which the public was not adequately informed about an election.  The elected officials would list it in a newspaper’s Public Notices section, and of course had to put the ballot measure into the government’s official record.  But that was insufficient to let voters know what was going on, and by doing the minimum possible to notify voters, some governments were able to keep the elections low profile.  The intent of suppressing turnout was so that only those people heavily invested in passage would participate.  The normal citizen, the rank-and-file taxpayer, might miss a special election, allowing others to vote in, say, a new debt issue or increase a tax rate.

The Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights corrected that situation.  The constitutional measure pertains to all governments in Colorado, even small special districts that don’t command much attention.

When bringing an issue before the voters, TABOR requires that “At least 30 days before a ballot issue election, districts shall mail …. a titled notice ….. addressed to ‘All Registered Voters’ at each address of one or more active registered electors.   …. Titles shall have this order of preference ‘NOTICE OF ELECTION TO INCREASE TAXES (or) TO INCREASE DEBT….’

The paragraph contains even more specifics, as it was carefully crafted to prevent elected officers from circumventing it.  This important constitutional provision improves the operations of all governments in our state and protects the taxpayer in ways beyond just voting on tax rates.

Oct 07

EDITORIAL: Politicians mismanage funds; don’t reward them with more

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EDITORIAL: Politicians mismanage funds; don’t reward them with more

  • The Gazette editorial board
Colorado Capitol

The Colorado state Capitol in Denver.

The political class can never get enough of the private sector’s money. That is why politicians are trying to con voters into passing Proposition CC in November.

Do not give politicians a blank check. They have proven unable to manage what they already have.

Colorado is not a low-tax state where politicians scrape to fund basic services. Our state did not make Kiplinger’s top-10 list of the most tax-friendly states this year, released last week, despite having a one-of-a-kind Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights in the state constitution. Weakening this protection, as Proposition CC would do, will only make things worse.

By calling taxes “fees,” and because of Colorado’s booming economy, the state government finds itself awash in surplus revenue. It has so much excess income, estimates anticipate constitutionally mandated returns of nearly $400 million for fiscal year 2020 and 2021.

To read the rest of this article, please click (HERE):

Oct 07

GUEST COLUMN: Voters should defend their TABOR refunds

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GUEST COLUMN: Voters should defend their TABOR refunds

  • Thomas Aiello

Oct 5, 2019

Last year, Colorado voters overwhelmingly rejected last year’s ballot measure that amounted to a multibillion-dollar tax increase on families and businesses. But taxpayers beware: pro-tax activists are back on the ballot again this November with a measure to weaken Colorado’s historic Taxpayer Bill of Rights, so that they can more easily pass tax increases in the future.

This year’s ballot measure is Proposition CC, which would alter TABOR in a way that would take money out of taxpayers’ pockets. Since it was approved by voters in 1992, TABOR has provided Coloradans with the strongest set of taxpayer protections in the country. By guaranteeing refunds of excessive taxes, restricting spending to sensible growth rates, and giving Coloradans the ability to vote on tax increases, TABOR has been instrumental in the state’s booming economy. Without TABOR, Colorado would likely not be one of the fastest growing states in the country, even as the state continues to rank high on measurements of public health and education.

Since TABOR limits the amount of money the state is allowed to spend, surplus revenue in excess of the cap must be refunded to Colorado taxpayers. Generally, the revenue cap on the state level grows with inflation plus population increases. Due to a strong economy, however, revenue collections are coming in above the caps, which means the state will have to refund about $500 million to Colorado taxpayers next year, and about $1.3 billion over the next three years. For millions of taxpayers across the state, these refunds could help cover a week’s worth of groceries, family activities, or even help to pay some rent.

But as of now, potentially $1.3 billion in refunds to taxpayers are in limbo and could be scrapped forever.

To read the rest of this story, please click (HERE):