Category Archives: Colorado Legislature

Aug 19

Proposition CC’s Ballot Language Is NOT Being Honest With Colorado

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Chris P. Bacon@CPBacon4CO
 

#PropCC Ballot Language **IF** the #democrats were being honest with #Colorado

 

But they’re not being honest

 
It’s not “Technically” a tax increase, but it IS permission for them to keep OverCharging your tax bills & keep it without asking
Aug 17

Why #TABOR Matters On August 17

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Proposition CC on the Nov 5 ballot, would force Colorado taxpayers to permanently forfeit our constitutionally-guaranteed tax refunds. The result: The annual state budget goes up every year, with no limits to the growth of government.
 
#TABOR
#ThankGodForTABOR
#WhyTABORMatters
#VoteNoOnPropCC
Aug 15

Why TABOR Matters On August 15

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Michael Fields, head of the pro-TABOR group, Colorado Rising Action, reports: “On the local level, debt increases and tax increases pass 50% of the time because voters trust their local officials. They don’t trust the legislature.”
 
#TABOR
#ThankGodForTABOR
#DontLoseYourTABORRights
#VoteNoOnPropCC
#TABORYes
Aug 14

Why TABOR Matters on August 14

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Supporters of Prop CC say that voters will still have the right to choose HOW their tax money is spent – but only if new issues are put on the ballot asking for a tax increase. Passing Prop CC would make the need to request tax money irrelevant, because the state budget would automatically grow each year.
 
#TABOR
#VoteNoOnPropCC
#ThankGodForTABOR
#WhyTABORMatters
Aug 12

SENGENBERGER | Safeguard TABOR — and stand up for Colorado taxpayers

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The Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights is under attack. For at least a decade, Democrats in the Colorado legislature — backed by the Colorado Supreme Court in erroneous rulings and occasionally supported by faithless Republicans — have thwarted some of the protections afforded to Coloradans by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

Typically, these successful assaults against TABOR have come from taxes disguised as “fees.”  In fact, this past legislative session Democrats even proposed financing a paid family leave program with a payroll tax (like the Social Security tax) that they would again have labeled a “fee.”  (This legislation is likely to return next session.) 

But this year’s attack — Proposition CC, put on the ballot by the Democrat-controlled General Assembly and backed by Gov. Jared Polis (D) — is particularly troublesome.  Recall that the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights was passed in 1992 and provides two essential protections for Coloradans.  First, the amendment requires a vote of the people to raise taxes (unless legislators call it a “fee,” as discussed).

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

Aug 12

As Colorado’s governor, lawmakers target tax breaks, a program that covers 75% of the state’s land could be in the crosshairs

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Colorado has awarded $7.6 million in Enterprise Zone tax credits to Comanche Solar PV in Pueblo County. The 156-megawatt Comanche solar array, shown here on Jan 20, 2019, is the largest solar project in the state of Colorado. (Mike Sweeney, Special to The Colorado Sun)

As Colorado’s governor, lawmakers target tax breaks, a program that covers 75% of the state’s land could be in the crosshairs

A Colorado Sun analysis of $223 million in tax credits awarded from 2013 to 2018 found that the state is often doling out taxpayer dollars without much evidence that each tax credit is producing economic activity that wouldn’t have occurred otherwise

Brian Eason

Special to The Colorado Sun

In the grand scheme of public subsidies for professional sports teams, the $19,306.19 the state gave the Colorado Rockies in 2013 probably isn’t enough to get worked up about.

Neither is the $948.57 credit claimed in 2014 by a Walgreens for $31,000 invested in a Pueblo pharmacy. Or the $529 McDonald’s received in 2016 through its restaurant in Greeley.

But when upwards of 75% of the state’s land is classified as an economic development zone, a hundred dollars here, a thousand dollars there adds up. And while the vast majority of the 16,000-plus tax credits claimed through the program in the last few years were worth less than $10,000, at least 42 companies have been awarded more than $1 million each in public subsidies through the program since July 2013.

As Gov. Jared Polis and the Colorado General Assembly conduct the state’s first broad review of tax breaks in recent memory, there’s perhaps no program that better illustrates the heated debate over tax incentives than the Enterprise Zone program. The sprawling economic development initiative was designed to spur investment in the state’s most needy areas but has expanded to the point that even some supporters question whether it’s fulfilling its intended purpose.

A Colorado Sun analysis of $223 million in tax credits awarded from July 2013 to June 2018 found that the state is often doling out taxpayer dollars without much evidence that each tax credit is producing economic activity that wouldn’t have occurred without public subsidies. In some cases, the state is also pursuing conflicting goals, explicitly incentivizing renewable energy in order to fight climate change on the one hand, while giving nearly twice as much to the fossil fuel industry that cleaner energies are meant to replace.

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