Personal income rose enough in Colorado last year to trigger provisions that could redirect $1.25 billion in extra funds to repair the state’s roads and buildings over the next five years.

(Jim Wilson)

The March Revenue Forecast is in and the “Battle Over Bucks” is gearing up under the Golden Dome. Throughout this session, I have been alerting you to the fact that a battle was brewing over the upcoming budget and TABOR – the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. Well, the war broke out this week!

Here is the scoop: The March Revenue Forecast unveiled the amount of new money available for the next budget cycle and all the bills that have been in a holding pattern are lining up for funding. In the MRF for the 2015-16 budget year, Legislative Council projects that the General Assembly will have an increase in General Fund dollars to allocate in the budget. The increase amounts to approximately $831.4 million or 8.7 percent. There is an additional $49.1 million surplus left over from fiscal year 2014-15. These amounts reflect the dollars available to spend even after TABOR refunds and SB 09-228 transfers are accounted for. (There was, however, a decrease of $218.6 million in projected revenues compared to the September Revenue Forecast.)

What does all this mean? I am glad you asked! Overall, the MRF is lower than the September projection, but there will still be an estimated $831.4 million in new dollars to spend. It is anticipated that TABOR refunds will kick in, but the amount refunded will be rather small in the first year. The “dollar debate” is a passionately partisan issue. Democrats continue to seize every opportunity to demonize TABOR as the reason there is no revenue available to fund state programs. Republicans are quick to counter with the fact that the General Fund has increased its expenditures $2.9 billion (with a B!) since 2009, with approximately $831.4 million available for additional growth in the 2015-16 budget. Continue reading →

By Charles Ashby
Saturday, March 21, 2015

DENVER — The Colorado Legislature has entered Bizarro World.

The revenue forecast it received last week confirmed that while the state’s economy is booming overall, and its coffers are overflowing with money, it can’t fund everything lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle want because it must return some of the extra money to taxpayers.

That has led many under the golden dome to believe they’ve entered an old Superman comic book that featured a backward Earth.

And it’s all because of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

That 1992 constitutional amendment put a permanent cap on how much government can grow each year, and requires that any long-term debt and tax increases be approved by voters.

While some lawmakers credit TABOR for preventing the state from going even deeper into the hole during the recent recession, others are blaming provisions in it for hindering the state’s ability to keep pace with funding such big-ticket items as roads and schools.

And now that forecasts are calling for anywhere from $70 million to $220 million in excess TABOR revenues, lawmakers are debating whether to try to work around TABOR limits and fill funding gaps.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle already have killed measures their constituents want because they would have an impact on those TABOR refunds, even if they bring in new revenue, such as a measure to allow off-highway vehicles to be licensed to drive on state roads because it would bring in cash, and a felony DUI bill because of its $17 million price tag.

For the first time ever, fiscal impact notes that legislative staffers attach to every bill introduced into a session include what they would do to the TABOR refunds, and if they cut into general fund money that goes to those big-ticket items.

TABOR ISSUES

Under TABOR’s strict provisions, government budgets can only grow by inflation and population growth. But some lawmakers are questioning both as not accurately reflecting how governments operate.

At the same time, other TABOR provisions lump all state revenue into one big pile when it comes to calculating when a refund is required. That formula, however, doesn’t take into account that much of the revenue already is dedicated to specific uses.

The inflation rate under ?TABOR is based on the consumer price index of the Denver-Boulder area, which makes no sense to Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver.

Steadman, the longest-serving member of the Legislature’s Joint Budget Committee, says the price of milk that consumers pay has nothing to do with the cost of building a new school or prison.

“The inflation rate, that’s based upon a market basket of goods that consumers buy, but the goods and services government buys are very different from what the average household consumer buys,” Steadman said. “We’re buying prisons. We’re buying roads. We’re buying a lot of things that most people don’t have to pay for, and that has nothing to do with the consumer price index.”

When it comes to population growth, TABOR impacts could spell danger to areas of the state that see their populations decrease, such as in rural Colorado. Continue reading →

Colorado is preparing to issue rebates to taxpayers for the first time in nearly 15 years.

The latest economic forecasts released Wednesday indicate the state will exceed its constitutional limit on tax collections by between $70 million and $220 million this fiscal year, triggering refunds under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

How much taxpayers will see when they file their 2015 taxes in April 2016 remains unclear, but the amount is expected to be modest.

The refunds will range from $15 to $89 per taxpayer based on income level, with the lowest-income earners possibly receiving an additional $230 break.

To read the rest of this article, click the following link:
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_27739330/rebounding-economy-boosts-tax-revenues-triggers-tabor-refunds

You’ve probably heard you might get a TABOR refund. If you’re like us, you’re wondering how much that could be. We set out to answer that very question.

• More: The legislation that could reduce your refund

What are TABOR refunds?

Under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, state spending in Colorado is only allowed to increase at the rate of population growth plus inflation.* Any money the state raises above that amount must be returned to taxpayers through a complex set of formulas.

Between a voter-approved TABOR timeout passed in 2005 and the Great Recession, it’s been a decade since residents last received a rebate. But with Colorado’s economy once again booming, analysts project the state will need to start returning money to taxpayers either this fiscal year or next.**

Continue reading →

Continue reading →

Audio: CPR’s Ben Markus reports on marijuana tax revenue

Colorado voters overwhelmingly passed heavy taxes on marijuana, and the state has collected tens of millions in the first year of legalization.

But all of the taxes raised from pot have to be refunded, unless lawmakers can agree on a solution. The Taxpayer Bill of Rights section of the state Constitution is triggering the refund, putting money for schools and prevention programs at risk.

For now, dispensaries like Colorado Harvest Company in Denver charge 22 percent in taxes for every pre-rolled joint, vaporizer, or brownie.

It’s an expense that customer Jason Swart doesn’t mind paying.

“Just for the convenience of being able to come in, go to a store, and the selection — I think it’s well worth it,” Swart said.

Swart is new to Colorado; he just moved here from Kansas. But he recognizes that marijuana taxes help the state.

“As far as I know it goes to good things, Swart said. “Schools and roads. I know we got a lot of potholes.”

“Orwellian-type of situation”

“Legalize it and tax it” was the mantra of the pot movement in Colorado, and one of the big reasons voters approved of legalization. Now, though, the impending refunds are a bizarre turn of events that have taken many by surprise.

“This is an Orwellian-type of situation,” said Tim Hoover with the left-leaning Colorado Fiscal Institute.

Here’s the issue: the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, or TABOR, requires the state to ask voters to approve any new taxes. When doing so, the state must estimate the money the tax would raise, and estimate the overall tax collections without it.

Continue reading →

Gov. John Hickenlooper ended his remarks to the Economic Club of Colorado on Tuesday with a warning for the state’s business leaders.

A major focus of his second term is preparing for Colorado’s impending growth — with 3 million more residents expected in the next 20 years, he said. The Democrat said Colorado is growing “almost too rapidly” and the growth costs money.

“We’re probably going to have to spend a bunch of money that will take the business community stepping up,” he said, saying industry leaders will need to recognize the need to spend money on roads and infrastructure.

To read the rest of this article, click the following link:
http://blogs.denverpost.com/thespot/2015/02/10/hickenlooper-says-state-needs-spend-big-prepare-growth/117137/