Category Archives: Fees

Sep 09

Measure to boost affordable-housing programs, reduce TABOR refunds on 2022 ballot

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Measure to boost affordable-housing programs, reduce TABOR refunds on 2022 ballot

Nonprofits, real estate groups back initiative to dedicate $300 million annually to state housing programs

BY: CHASE WOODRUFF – SEPTEMBER 7, 2022 5:00 AM

    

A small housing complex in Lyons. (Moe Clark/Colorado Newsline)

Colorado voters will decide this November whether to boost state spending on affordable-housing initiatives by tapping into funds that could otherwise be returned under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

Initiative 108, which officially qualified for the 2022 ballot last month, would dedicate an additional $300 million annually to the state’s affordable housing efforts. It would protect the additional revenue by exempting the funds from the annual limits set by TABOR, the 1992 constitutional amendment that places restrictions on Colorado’s taxation and spending levels.

“This measure is desperately needed if we want future generations of Coloradans to thrive,” Brian Rossbert, the executive director of the nonprofit Housing Colorado, part of a coalition supporting the measure, said in a statement.

“Too many Coloradans can no longer afford to live in the neighborhoods where they set down roots,” he said. “That’s forcing families to make difficult relocation decisions, robbing communities of essential services and intensifying our homelessness crisis.”

If approved by voters, Initiative 108 would establish a new State Affordable Housing Fund and exempt it from TABOR limits. Each year, 60% of its funding would support a housing program overseen by the state’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade, with the remaining 40% distributed by the Department of Local Affairs.

The measure requires the bulk of the OEDIT funding to be directed towards “equity investments in low- and middle-income multi-family rental developments.” Efforts overseen by DOLA would include grants to assist first-time homebuyers with their down payments and a separate program to provide rental assistance and housing vouchers to people experiencing homelessness.

  • There is nothing ‘affordable’ about taking $300 million of our TABOR tax refunds for a flawed housing measure.  – Advance Colorado’s Michael Fields

A state issue committee in support of Initiative 108, Coloradans for Affordable Housing Now, raised $2.8 million to fund its campaign earlier this year. Its largest donor by far is Denver-based charitable organization Gary Community Ventures, which has contributed $2 million. Other donors include Habitat for Humanity Denver and the National Association of Realtors.

The measure has drawn opposition from Advance Colorado Action, a deep-pocketed, “dark money” nonprofit that has helped fund and coordinate a wide range of conservative causes in recent Colorado elections.

“There is nothing ‘affordable’ about taking $300 million of our TABOR tax refunds for a flawed housing measure,” Advance Colorado’s Michael Fields said in a statement last month. “To fix our state’s housing crisis, we need to build more, not tax more.”

Backers say the measure could help fund the construction of 170,000 new homes in the coming years, offsetting what is projected to be a worsening housing crunch in fast-growing Colorado.

In May, a fiscal impact statement by the nonpartisan Legislative Council Staff noted that the measure’s TABOR impact would vary from year to year depending on revenue levels and how lawmakers choose to distribute refunds.

“If refunds are paid via current law mechanisms, the measure is expected to reduce refunds by approximately $40 per taxpayer, on average, for tax year 2023 and $80 per taxpayer, on average, for tax year 2024,” analysts wrote.

“The measure will increase investments in affordable housing developments, boosting incomes for developers and construction firms,” nonpartisan staff wrote in a separate fiscal summary. “Some households that would otherwise face housing insecurity may find stable housing under the measure, increasing their financial security and opportunities for employment.”

Other measures up for a vote on Colorado’s 2022 ballot include three proposals to change the state’s liquor laws.

https://coloradonewsline.com/2022/09/07/affordable-housing-reduce-tabor-refunds-2022-ballot/

 

 

Aug 19

Mr. TABOR

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SPECIAL TO THE DENVER POST
Anti tax crusader and El Paso County commissioner Douglas Bruce next to his Mr.Tabor licsence plate. 8/19/05 THE DENVER POST/Chuck Bigger

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Jul 04

The Empire of Fees. How charges and fines drive government growth

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When I wake up in the morning at my home in Austin, Texas, I turn on the lights, and thereby provide a few cents to the city government’s electric company. I flush the toilet, owing a few more to Austin’s sewer service. When I pour myself a glass of water, the city water department gets a piece. After I get dressed and step outside, I watch the city take my trash, my recycling, and my compost—each pickup costs a few dollars. Sometimes, I discover a $25 ticket for parking my car in the wrong spot. Then I swallow my anger and drive down the MoPac highway, where I pay a toll to the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority. I park in a garage downtown owned by the Austin Transportation Department, pay them a few bucks, and walk to my office. If I need to take a trip out of town, I pay $1.25 for a Capital Metro District bus to the city-owned Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, where, along with the price of my plane ticket, I pay a $5.60 fee for the benefit of being patted down by a TSA agent, a Passenger Facility Charge, and a small part in any rents the city charges restaurants and retailers. Only when I’m in the air does the drain to the government stop.

In one typical morning, I handed over money to several government bodies. But I didn’t pay any taxes—only fees, charges, and fines. These are the future of government in the United States.

The idea that government operates just by taxing and spending money is anachronistic. A growing share of its revenue comes from charges that the government imposes in exchange for its services or as a penalty for breaking its rules. In 1950, about 1 percent of Americans’ income went to charges from state and local governments. Today, that number is 4 percent. Include federal fees and charges, themselves the fastest-growing part of federal revenue, and that number rises to over 5.5 percent. Though largely hidden from the public, fees and charges account for most of the growth in government over the past 70 years and have become the top source of revenue for state and local governments.

Two factors drive this new reliance on special charges. First, governments are expanding the “businesses” they run—hospitals, universities, airports—and forcing users to pay more for them.

To continue reading this story, please click (HERE) to go to The City Journal.