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

Even key Dems dis Prop. 123; vote NO

• By Ben Murrey
• Oct 12, 2022Updated Oct 12, 2022

Ben Murrey

Thanks to the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, commonly known as “TABOR,” Coloradans will receive nearly $4 billion in excess revenue refunded from the state this year. That’s where those $750 checks for individuals and $1,500 for couples came from over the summer. On the ballot this year, Proposition 123 is asking voters to give up their refunds, at least in part.

If adopted by voters, the measure would reduce TABOR refunds by about $86 per person, based on information from the state voter booklet or “Blue Book.”

The measure dedicates up to 0.1% of income tax revenue to affordable housing programs administered by state bureaucracies. For years in which the state has a TABOR surplus, that would reduce TABOR refunds by about $300 million. State economists currently project refunds for at least the next three years.

Even Democrats — who rarely refuse the opportunity to spend more of your money on new government programs — have been skeptical of the measure.

Democratic state Sen. Chris Hansen, of Denver, expressed concern that Proposition 123 could eat directly into the state’s ability to spend on other priorities.

“There’s no free lunch,” Hansen said referencing the measure. “K-12 and higher education (is) where the marginal dollar is in our state budget. So $1 less means $1 less for education.”

The statement proves a bit disingenuous, but the senator is right to say there is no such thing as a free lunch. Continue reading →