Mar 15

Menten: Open letter to the Colorado Commission on Property Tax

Dear members of the Commission on Property Tax:

The commission was tasked with providing property tax relief options before the temporary tax adjustments expire at the end of 2024.

The obvious  answer is to restore inflation and growth adjustable property tax revenue caps where they’ve been forfeited in prior elections. Good news – that’s already in the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) but it needs to be reinforced!

If that doesn’t happen, there will be a hard property tax cap on the 2024 ballot. That’s been clearly stated by two of the proponents of property tax caps if there was insufficient actions from the commission.

Taxpayers want tax caps whether they are hard or inflation adjustable. Taxpayers like me understand that government growth should be relative to the size of the local economy. That is rightly answered in the existing property tax limit contained in TABOR, paragraph 7c, which allows for such growth.

Having sat through all the commission meetings, there’s a few moments I want to highlight.

Bring back the tax caps

In this three minute video, the county assessor from Santa Clara, California described where that state sits now under the Proposition 13 property tax caps. His points illustrate why our Colorado TABOR is ideal. The assessor points out that local California governments didn’t appropriately reduce property taxes in 1978, even referring to property taxes as “money machines.” So, California voters used their right to petition to place a hard tax cap on the ballot, which became Proposition 13. Continue reading

Feb 28

Fiscal Rules and ‘Learning by Doing’

February 28, 2024

Fiscal Rules and ‘Learning by Doing’

By Barry Poulson

An important discovery in understanding productivity change and economic growth is the phenomenon of “learning by doing.” One of the first discoveries of this phenomenon was in the aircraft industry during World War II. Defense contractors discovered that in producing a particular aircraft, the labor force was more efficient with each successive contract. The labor force gained knowledge in producing aircraft in the initial contract that they applied in subsequent contracts.

Learning by doing is found to increase productivity across many industries. It is found in pursuing public policies as well. I gained insight into these learning effects as a member of the Colorado Tax Commission. We held hearings across the state to gain insight into citizen attitudes toward fiscal policy, and in particular to Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights Amendment (TABOR). If any government in Colorado wants to increase taxes, revenues, or issue public debt, it must have citizen approval. Citizens in Colorado have voted on hundreds of these ballot measures at all levels of government since TABOR was passed through citizen initiative in 1992. Continue reading

Feb 23

Freedom Minute | Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR)

Economist Dr. Paul Prentice explains Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) amendment. TABOR allows the state budget to grow each year at population plus inflation, while giving taxpayers the ability to vote on all tax and debt increases.

Feb 23

Freedom Minute | Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about TABOR

 

Rob Natelson wrote THE BOOK on Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. As he puts it, “It’s everything you could ever want to know about TABOR.” Check it out here: https://www.i2i.org/the-colorado-taxp…

Jan 26

TABOR Refunds With & Without Tax Expenditures By Ben Murray

Ben Murrey@benamurrey
Colorado is over-collecting taxes.

Instead of refunding the excess to everyone, #coleg gives a chunk of the extra money away to special interests first.

The #1 BEST WAY to prevent this is to cut the income tax rate for EVERYONE.

You can read my column on this by clicking the following link:
https://i2i.org/colorado-tax-expenditure-modifications-2023/

Jan 14

On this day last year, we celebrated the 30th anniversary of TABOR.

On this day last year, we celebrated the 30th anniversary of TABOR.

Your Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights!

Keeping government in check and more money in your pocket is why Colorado approved TABOR on the November, 1992 ballot.

#ColoradoRejectedPropHH
#ItsYourMoneyNotTheirs
#DontBeFooled
#VoteOnTaxesAndFees
#FeesAreTaxes
#TABOR
#FollowTheMoney
#FollowTheLaw
#ThankGodForTABOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jan 14

Colorado Republicans filibuster proposal to double tax credit using TABOR dollars

House Republicans launched a brief filibuster on Friday morning over legislation to double a tax credit using Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights surplus dollars.

House Bill 24-1084 is actually a repeal and re-enactment of a measure from the special session in November that dealt with property taxes. The 2023 measure doubles the Earned Income Tax Credit.

The filibuster, which occurred on just the third day of the new legislative session, lasted about 45 minutes. Republicans’ opposition centers around the bill’s use of TABOR surplus dollars, which they view as an attack on TABOR by reducing refunds by about $182.5 million.

Last year’s bill is the subject of a lawsuit from Rep. Scott Bottoms, R-Colorado Springs. He filed the challenge in Denver District Court on Dec. 28 against House Speaker Julie McCluskie and Gov. Jared Polis, who signed the bill into law, claiming he had been denied his constitutional right to have the measure be read at length during its final vote on Nov. 9.

To continue reading this story, please click (HERE):