Jan
18
Category Archives: Legal Issues
Jan
08
IN RESPONSE | Pols trample on TABOR; let’s demand our petition rights
Douglas Bruce
Re: “Colorado must draw a line between ‘tax’ and ‘fee,’ ” Jan. 6.
As TABOR’s author, I fought many traps our foes set for us. We went down their rabbit trail of theoretical debates … twice.
The 1988 TABOR covered “fees” that yearly increase above inflation. Foes used examples like library card fees increasing 10%, which may be a quarter. “We can’t vote all the time” on trivial sums.
The 1990 fight allowed increases rounded up to the next dollar. Same result. We can’t set a limit — say, $50 million — on a fee increase; they will simply increase 50 fees $40 million each. They will also increase licenses, permits, etc.
In 1992, we switched “fee v. tax ” details for revenue spending limits. The Establishment took OUR bait. The issue was our right to vote at all, and we won. Set the agenda and frame the issue, and you win the debate.
Our foes then violated TABOR for 28 years, by saying road and bridge “fees” are for “enterprises,” though they clearly violate the definition. Ditto hospital provider fees, the Dirty Dozen in 2009, and dozens more.
Jan
02
Income tax rates decreasing in Colorado in 2020 as TABOR Refunds kick in
DENVER — It’s official. Coloradans will be giving less to Colorado state government in 2020.
Governor Polis made the announcement official in an oped this morning with The Colorado Sun.
Income tax rates will be decreasing from a flat 4.63% to 4.5%.
The decrease was mandated by the Colorado State Constitution and the Taxpayer Bills of Rights (TABOR) which limits how much government can grow each year.
Passed in 1992, this is the first year TABOR has triggered cuts. As opposed to sending checks to taxpayers, income tax rates will be cut instead.
Dec
31
TABOR 2019 State of Colorado Taxation Division Website
TABOR 2019
Dec
27
Any TABOR measure needs to say what it is
Any TABOR measure needs to say what it is
If we asked readers to give us their honest feedback about Article X, Section 20 of the Colorado Constitution, we doubt we’d get any. Who, besides lawmakers or legislative staff, could even hazard a guess as to what issue that part of the Constitution addresses?
But if we asked readers to give us their honest feedback about the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, that’s a different story. Even if you didn’t have a firm position on whether it affects the state’s ability to deliver government services, you’d at least be familiar with the general subject matter.
Dec
26
Group restarts tax fight, files 35 ideas for Colorado ballot
Ballot proposals would move the state back toward a graduated tax
If the fight over Colorado tax policy were a sporting event, half the stadium would be empty.
With the November defeat of Proposition CC, fiscal conservatives have taken the field, and a contest over the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights feels like a foregone conclusion.
But to Democrats and aligned interest groups, policy losses such as tax hikes for schools, roads and higher education just mean they haven’t found the right game plan.
“What I took away from Prop CC was that was not the solution,” said Carol Hedges of the Colorado Fiscal Institute, a liberal tax policy group. “That solution didn’t address the concerns of the folks who voted in that election, and we have an obligation to solve these problems.”
So a month after voters defeated the measure to eliminate the state’s spending cap, Hedges’ organization is playing offense and has introduced an eye-popping 35 tax-related ballot initiatives for 2020. The specifics vary proposal to proposal, but one theme unites them: creating a tax code that requires the wealthy to pay more to fund public services.
Dec
17
Happy New Year From Your Colorado TABOR Foundation!
By a vote of 55% to 45%, you helped defeat Prop CC to remove TABOR spending limits, but they’re at it again.
Anti-TABOR activists are already testing ballot language for a 2020 initiative to unwind your Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. With a high Democratic voter turnout, they see next year’s election as their chance to amend the State Constitution to give government taxing authority without a vote of the people.
The TABOR Foundation educates voters on how the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights protects their livelihood and why it matters to their family’s future.
We give seminars, media interviews, social media updates, and we’re a primary contact for citizens asking for help when their local jurisdictions violate TABOR mandates. Importantly, we engage in legal action to protect TABOR.
Defending freedom costs time – and money. We need more help. What can you do to help us?
Please send your donation of $50, $100, $150 or more. Checks payable to TABOR Foundation, a 501c3 not-for-profit organization, may be tax deductible as allowed by law.
And, we welcome your service with our Board of Directors, Speakers Bureau, or in some other capacity. Please call me to talk about being more involved. Thanks!
Sincerely,
Penn R. Pfiffner
Chairman
303-233-7731
TABOR Foundation
720 Kipling St.
Lakewood, CO 80215
www.thetaborfoundation.org
Nov
29
What’s next after the failure of Proposition CC?
Democrats in the Colorado legislature will sacrifice parts of their agenda or find politically risky ways to pay for it
Nov
12
We could use your help, talents, and skills defending the gold standard, Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR).
Now that Proposition CC has gone down in flames, what will progressives do next to sabotage TABOR?
Aren’t you sick and tired on politicians trying to weasel their way out of, or ignoring, TABOR?
We need to do something about it, right?
Well then, why not you?
Yes, you read that right.
Why not? It’s a great time to get involved.
If not you, then who?
We could use your help, talents, and skills defending the gold standard, Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR).
We’re looking forward to having you help Colorado.
It’s easy to join.
See below on how you can make a difference.
Nov
04
Norquist & Gleason: Fate our nation’s most important taxpayer protection measure hangs in the balance
The 2020 presidential campaign is dominating media coverage, but in just a few days, on Nov. 5, the voters (not a poll) of the battleground state of Colorado will determine the future of the nation’s strongest and most effective tax and expenditure limitation measure, known as the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR).
Approved by more than 53 percent of voters in 1992, Colorado’s TABOR mandates that state revenue cannot grow faster than the combined rate of inflation and population growth. State revenue collected in excess of the TABOR cap is refunded to taxpayers. TABOR also requires lawmakers to get voter approval for all tax increases.
It is projected that Colorado state government will have to refund roughly $500 million to Colorado taxpayers in 2020 due to revenue collections coming in above the TABOR cap. The progressive Democrats who run Colorado’s state legislature and Democratic Gov. Jared Polis are working to prevent those and all future refunds from happening with a measure referred to the November 2019 ballot that seeks to kill the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.
Proposition CC, which will appear on the statewide ballot in Colorado this fall, asks Colorado voters to allow state government to keep money that is supposed to be sent back to taxpayers in accordance with TABOR. Passage of Proposition CC would mean the end of the TABOR and the result would be a significantly higher tax burden in perpetuity for individuals, families, and employers across Colorado.