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May
30
Monthly Archives: May 2020
May
28
TABOR Emergency Taxes at the State level
TABOR Emergency Taxes at the State level
Emergency taxes are a contingency written into the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. In response to the decline in revenues due to the pandemic economic shutdown, activists on the Left are urging new and higher taxes using the emergency taxes clause. Unfortunately, the General Assembly has put itself into an impossible situation that will prevent the imposition of any State emergency taxes. Legislators’ dishonest dealings in good times removes this option today. Continue reading
May
28
From An Editorial On May 5, 2019: State Could Go Off A Fiscal Cliff
State could go off a fiscal cliff
By: Barry W Poulson
May 5, 2019
Colorado has created a fiscal cliff; the state is woefully unprepared for the revenue shortfall that will accompany the next recession. Citizens might be surprised to learn that the state has been pursuing imprudent policies that will result in a fiscal crisis when the next recession hits. It is important to understand how the fiscal cliff was created and what we can do about it.
Over the past two decades, Colorado has weakened the fiscal constraints imposed by the Colorado Taxpayer Bill of Rights. TABOR limits the rate of growth in state spending to the sum of inflation plus population growth, regardless of the amount of revenue the state takes in.
But most state revenue is exempt from the TABOR limit. The exempt funds include the revenue from enterprises and the fees collected by government agencies, which have grown rapidly over this period. As a result, over the past decade TABOR has not constrained the growth in spending, and this year the state will spend virtually every dollar of revenue it takes in.
The fiscal cliff is also linked to a rapid growth in debt and unfunded liabilities. While limits are imposed on general obligation debt, there are no limits on the issuance of revenue bonds. These are bonds with a dedicated stream of revenue used to pay off the bonds over time. As state enterprises have grown they have saddled the state with greater debt burdens.
Increasing debt is also incurred in the form of unfunded liabilities. Despite the recent reforms enacted in the Public Employees Retirement Association, unfunded liabilities continue to increase. The official estimate of these unfunded liabilities is $32 billion; but with realistic assumptions regarding rates returns on assets, the actual unfunded liabilities are estimated to be in excess of $100 billion. Continue reading
May
26
TABOR and COVID 19: We’re All Gonna Pay
TABOR and COVID 19: We’re all gonna pay
Blog post by Christine Burtt
5/26/2020 – 4 minute read
Let’s face it. You can’t shut down the economy, borrow trillions of dollars to subsidize households and businesses, and cause massive unemployment in the private sector without getting seriously upside down in tax revenues.
The Colorado state budget will be about $3.3B in the hole for FY2021, and that doesn’t include deficits in county and special district budgets.
If Legislatures over the years had honored the requirement of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights to stash away an emergency fund, we’d have roughly $1B in cash right now. Instead of a lockbox of cash, illiquid government buildings were determined to be assets counted toward the emergency fund. Anybody have cash to buy a government building? But I digress….
In the Democrat-controlled Colorado Legislature, raising taxes is the easy answer to a budget shortfall. The short-term exercise is to reconcile what is “essential” vs “nice to have.”
In reality, government mandated services like administering food stamps, running elections, law enforcement, infrastructure, and paying public employee retirement benefits will be protected. But other programs funded for ideological wish-lists may be delayed – until they can raise taxes.
The most likely ways to raise taxes include: Continue reading
May
19
Worst Public Pension Quarterly Results Reported-Reality Is Far Worse
Public pensions, including PERA, had their worst investment return quarter ever in 1Q20. State pensions, on average, lost 13.2% in the quarter. However, the losses are worse than reported due to secrecy agreements in place regarding their alternative investments position. These highly speculative investments in the PERA portfolio do not have to be reported now. This reality will exacerbate the financial condition of PERA, and other state pensions, and will motivate states, like Colorado, to scream for taxpayer relief. PERA’s funding ratio declined in the very good times (and stock market boom from 2009 to 2019.) The funding ratio will decline even ffurther in the current economic. The coronavirus economy will show that their financial health is now even more problematic. Colorado taxpayers will be the target to bail these pensions out yet again. Taxpayers already contribute more than 2X to PERA than private sector employers contribute to Social Security. For more, see this Forbes analysis:
Worst Public Pension Quarterly Results Reported-Reality Is Far Worse
Edward Siedle Contributor
Public pensions just reported their worst quarterly investment performance in over a decade. Thanks to secrecy agreements, reporting delays and valuation wiggle-room granted to hedge funds, private equity, real estate, infrastructure, venture capital and other private asset managers, the full extent of public pension losses has not been disclosed to pension stakeholders.
Getty
Public pensions just reported their worst quarterly investment performance in over a decade. But results related to 25%-50% of their riskiest investments aren’t included. Thanks to secrecy agreements, reporting delays and valuation wiggle-room granted to hedge, private equity, real estate, infrastructure, venture capital and other private asset managers, the full extent of the losses has not been disclosed to pension stakeholders. Complicity with Wall Street allows public pensions to avoid accountability and push bad performance results off until the next quarter, year or even decade.
To continue reading this Forbes article, please click (here):
May
18
Independence Institute Launches Tax Reduction Ballot Initiative
Independence Institute Launches Tax Reduction Ballot Initiative
- May 18, 2020
To “Energize our Economy” Independence Institute Launches Tax Reduction Ballot Initiative
May 18, 2020
Denver – Independence Institute, Colorado’s free-market think tank, announces its petition drive launch today of a ballot initiative that will reduce the flat Colorado state income tax rate from 4.63% to 4.55%.
The signature gathering process for Initiative #306 will begin today.
The initiative, currently known as Initiative# 306, is supported by the issue committee Energize our Economy. The purpose of this ballot initiative is to get Colorado’s economy back to its former strength, by putting money back into the pockets of those who earned it.
This flat-rate tax cut will also offer voters an alternative to a progressive income tax increase that will also be on the ballot, Initiative #271, that seeks to raise income taxes by $2 billion a year.
“The Colorado economy —pre-COVID-19— was on fire thanks to our Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights and our flat state income tax,” said Jon Caldara, President of the Independence Institute, and co-ballot proponent of the tax rate reduction. “We look forward to giving the voters a real choice between a progressive tax increase which will be billed as a middle-class tax cut, and a real tax cut for every Coloradan. Question is: which one is actually the tax cut? Hint: Not the ballot question that starts “Shall state taxes be increased $2,000,000,000 annually.”
May
18
TABOR repeal is off the table for 2020. Now it’s Initiative 271, a $2 billion tax hike
TABOR repeal is off the table for 2020. Now it’s Initiative 271, a $2 billion tax hike targeting the wealthy
Vision 2020 Colorado, a coalition behind a tax system overhaul, tells The Sun it will move forward with a graduated income tax measure that will lower taxes for the vast majority
coalition pushing to overhaul Colorado’s tax system will not pursue a complete repeal of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights this year, opting instead for a ballot measure in November that would generate billions in new money with higher taxes on the wealthy.
The new initiative — which is expected to receive final legal approval Wednesday — is designed to create a more equitable tax system in Colorado by lowering the current 4.63% tax rate for households making less than $250,000 a year.
MORE: Colorado’s regressive tax system, and a proposed graduated income tax, explained
An estimated 95% of taxpayers who are below the threshold would qualify for the tax cut, which would take effect for 2021. For those who make more than $250,000, the additional earnings are taxed at a higher rate up to the maximum of 8.9% for annual taxable income over $1 million.
The organizations behind the ballot question, known collectively as Vision 2020 Colorado, expect the new graduated income tax to generate an estimated $2 billion a year in new money with at least half earmarked to increase teacher salaries and retention. The remainder would be spent at the discretion of state lawmakers.
“We know middle-income Coloradans are paying a greater share of the tax burden than the wealthy 5%, but our tax code isn’t just unfair, it’s inadequate,” said Scott Wasserman, president of the Bell Policy Center, a leading proponent of the measure. The tough decisions made by state lawmakers about how to spend the $30 billion annual budget, he added, are “a purely consequence of our state not having enough money.”
To continue reading the rest of this story, please click (HERE):
May
18
Tweet Exchange Between George Brauchler & Dustin Zvonek About Ian Silveril’s Article
May
15
Colorado’s State Budget Needs Cutting
http://coloradosun.com/2020/05/15/jim-morrissey-colorado-delicate-budget-operation/?utm_source=The+Colorado+Sun&utm_campaign=9823376a7f-Sun-Up&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_2e5f9a0f1b-9823376a7f-64925121&mc_cid=9823376a7f&mc_eid=85f697f874&fbclid=IwAR3W2tJN0HFHvaxLvobX36jYdk6PnN6ydFgy5NNYntH450s2O9MxXD3o3kc
May
13
Coronavirus may trigger the second-largest property tax cut in Colorado history, further crippling local budgets
The reductions under Colorado’s Gallagher Amendment would slash total school district revenue by an estimated $491 million. Fire districts would also be hard hit.
At a moment when state and local governments are already drowning in red ink, Colorado’s constitution is now projected to trigger the second-largest residential property tax cut in modern history.
Under forecasts presented Tuesday, Colorado lawmakers could be asked to cut residential property taxes by nearly 18% in 2021 to comply with a tax-limiting constitutional provision known as the Gallagher Amendment.
For homeowners, it would mean permanent financial relief at a time of rising unemployment and deep economic uncertainty. But if the cut goes through as projected, it would have cascading effects at nearly every level of government in the state, gashing the budgets of property-tax reliant fire districts, county governments and schools.
The reductions would cut total school district revenue by an estimated $491 million. About half of that gap will impact the state budget, which is constitutionally required to backfill certain school funding shortfalls, even as it faces a fiscal catastrophe of its own as sales and income tax revenue plummet. In one fell swoop, it could wipe out all the recent gains the state had made in erasing its unfunded debt to schools, formerly known as the negative factor. At the county level, statewide revenue could drop by $204 million.