#HandsOffTABOR
#DontBeFooled
#ItsYourMoneyNotTheirs
#TABOR
#FollowTheLaw
#FeesAreTaxes
#VoteOnFees
#ReplaceThemAllForNotFollowingVotersWishes
Category Archives: Proposition 117
Nov
25
Perspective: Taxes — by another name
Perspective: Taxes — by another name
Since 2018, Colorado taxpayers have benefited from two reductions to the state income tax that together have brought the rate from 4.63% to 4.4%, for an aggregate reduction of 0.23%. These reductions have been much heralded by state government leaders and have elicited approving comments from a wide range of observers.
The applause for these tax cuts, however, has obscured a separate tactic that state leaders increasingly have used to extract revenue from Coloradans in amounts that dwarf the income tax reductions. During the last two decades, Coloradans have seen a steady increase in the fees paid to a wide range of state enterprises. The pattern has accelerated dramatically since 2018.
According to a recent Common Sense Institute study, fee-based revenue to enterprises has increased since 2018 by an amount equivalent to a 0.51% increase in the state income tax — so, more than double the recent tax cuts. If Colorado’s fee enterprises, minus higher education, were instead funded by the state income tax, the state income tax would increase to 7.68%, a 75% increase over the current rate of 4.4%.
Why the transition to fee-based revenue? In part, because it enables legislators to raise revenue, and spending, without obtaining voter approval.
Jul
30
EDITORIAL: Salute our state’s constitution this Colorado Day
EDITORIAL: Salute our state’s constitution this Colorado Day
- The Gazette editorial board
On Thursday, the state of Colorado turns 148 — and Coloradans no doubt can think of many good reasons to celebrate.
Among them of course are the Centennial State’s unmatched natural wonders. There’s also the state’s exquisite climate; its vast, wide-open spaces, and its abundant resources — from oil and gas underground to the wind and sunshine all around — that heat our homes, power our automobiles and light the way.
One blessing that’s more directly connected to the advent of Colorado’s statehood itself is our founding charter — our state’s constitution — which shares the same birthday. Drafted in March of 1876 and approved by territorial voters on July 1 of the same year, the Colorado Constitution formally took effect Aug. 1, 1876, when Colorado was admitted to the union.
There’s good reason to celebrate the state’s constitution, as well, on Colorado Day.
Like any constitution, ours isn’t without foibles. At times it has left itself wide open to interpretation, and activist courts have been happy to oblige. Yet, on the balance, Colorado’s constitution has served its citizens pretty well — including by way of some well-timed and well-placed amendments to the document over the generations. Continue reading
Jun
20
Coloradans have voted on 36 TABOR-related ballot measures since 1993, rejecting 69% of them
Coloradans have voted on 36 TABOR-related ballot measures since 1993, rejecting 69% of them
Coloradans have decided on 36 statewide ballot measures that were designed to increase revenue for the state, which required voter approval under TABOR. Of the 36 measures, 11 (30.56%) were approved and 25 (69.44%) were defeated.
Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), adopted in 1992, was designed to require statewide voter approval of all new taxes, tax rate increases, extensions of expiring taxes, mill levy increases, valuation for property assessment increases, or tax policy changes resulting in increased tax revenue.
Of the 36 measures, 17 were referred to the ballot by the state legislature and 19 were placed on the ballot through citizen initiative petitions. Of the 11 approved measures, 10 were referred to the ballot by the state legislature and one was a citizen initiative.
Highlights:
- 14 of the measures were designed to increase a tax. Of the 14 measures, two were approved and 12 were defeated. In 2004, voters approved an initiative to increase the tobacco tax to fund educational and healthcare programs. In 2020, voters approved a measure placed on the ballot by the state legislature to increase tobacco taxes and create a tax on nicotine products to fund health and education programs.
Nov
01
With TABOR, Make Your Case And Convince Your Fellow Coloradans
#DontBeFooled
#ItsYourMoneyNotTheirs
#VoteOnTaxesAndFees
#FeesAreTaxes
#TABOR
#ThankGodForTABOR
#FollowTheMoney
#FollowTheLaw
May
06
Democrats’ top legislative priority: re-election
Apr
09
Conservatives file lawsuit to invalidate Colorado’s new transportation fees. Here’s what it claims.
Senate Bill 260, passed by Democrats in 2021, enacted new fees on gasoline purchases, deliveries and Uber and Lyft rides to raise billions for transportation projects
Colorado’s new transportation fees violate the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights and several other state finance laws and should be invalidated, two conservative groups and Republican state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg claim in a long-promised lawsuit filed late Thursday in Denver.
Senate Bill 260, passed by Democrats in the legislature last year, enacted a host of new transportation fees — including on gasoline purchases, deliveries and Uber and Lyft rides — to raise money for road and transit projects across the state.
Democrats celebrated the measure as a partial solution to Colorado’s longstanding transportation funding deficit, but Republicans decried it as an unlawful attempt to get around TABOR’s requirement that voters approve new taxes.
To continue reading this story from the Colorado Sun, please click (HERE):
Sep
28
EDITORIAL: $4 billion in returns will fuel the economy
- The Gazette editorial board
- Sep 28, 2021Updated 3 hrs ago
Tails should not wag dogs. It defies physics, not to mention the will of the dog. Tails should wag dogs no more than politicians should decide the size and scope of a government established by the governed to serve the governed. A roaring economy should never increase the size and scope of government unless the people demand it.
The residents of Colorado have made clear they don’t want more government. They believe the state has all the money it needs. They reiterated this conviction just two years ago when they trounced Proposition CC, a proposal to let the state keep revenues above a floating state spending cap determined by an equation of inflation and population growth.
Just last year, voters went a step further and lowered the Property tax from 4.63% to 4.55%, and probably would have voted for a lower rate had they been given the option.
One reason this center-left blue state wants to throttle back government spending is the general discontent the public has with the way politicians treat their money.
To read the rest of this editorial, please click (HERE):
Sep
28
Colorado to issue $4.1 billion in taxpayer refunds in next four years
Source: Colorado Legislative Council; Chart: John Frank/Axios
Colorado is preparing to issue $4.1 billion in refunds to taxpayers over the next four years, new projections show.
State of play: Whether that’s a good thing remains up for debate among state lawmakers.
What’s happening: Democratic lawmakers and liberal advocates are renewing a push to bypass the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights and keep the surplus tax revenue, saying the money is needed to help the state build back from the pandemic and improve education.
- Early discussions involve moving certain revenue off the books.
- Another possibility is asking voters to keep the money through a ballot measure.
What they’re saying: “This coming year, taxpayers will see rebate checks, but those will come at the expense of better funding for public services that reduce costs for all of us,” state Sens. Chris Hansen and Dominick Moreno, both Democratic budget writers, wrote in a recent opinion piece.
The other side: Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, is cheering the refunds, saying they’re a sign of a good economy.
Conservative supporters of TABOR are blasting Democrats for wanting to keep the cash.
- “Colorado voters have said time and time again they want their TABOR refunds,” said Jesse Mallory, the Colorado director of Americans for Prosperity, a limited-government group. “The legislature should not ignore the will of the voters and look for loopholes to keep them.”
How it works: Under TABOR, the voter-approved constitutional amendment, Colorado’s tax revenues cannot exceed the rate of inflation plus population growth. When they do, the surplus must go back to taxpayers unless voters allow the government to spend the money.
The size of the surplus determines how it is refunded.
- For the current year through 2024, the surplus is so large it will result in a temporary reduction of the state’s income tax rate from 4.55% to 4.5% and a sales tax refund.
To read the rest of this story, please click (HERE):
Sep
16
Sen. Rob Woodward: Why can’t Democrats respect the will of the voters?
By Sen. Rob Woodward
If there is one thing that I’ve learned during my time in state government, it’s that Coloradans like to have their voices heard on taxes, fees and government debt. The Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) is often at the center of debate and discussion on these issues, but at every opportunity that voters have had, they’ve repeatedly upheld TABOR.
Colorado voters soundly defeated — by over 100,000 votes — an attempt to repeal portions of TABOR just two years ago when we voted down Proposition CC. Then, in 2020, voters strengthened TABOR by passing Proposition 117, which required that any new fees that feed into a government enterprise that expect to bring in over $100 million over five years must be voted on by the people. This initiative was born from necessity as some politicians found it convenient to bypass TABOR by simply switching out the term “tax” for “fee.”
This legislative session, Democrats, who have complete control over state government, were determined to not let you have a say when it comes to taxes and fees. Colorado Public Radio columnist Andrew Kenney dubbed this legislative session as “The Year Democrats Left TABOR Behind,” and I unfortunately must agree.
The most egregious example of the ruling party’s tactics was Senate Bill 21-260. While this legislation was heralded as the best step we’ve taken in decades on transportation infrastructure, the truth is that our roads and bridges will see less than a $2 billion investment over 10 years. While that number seems substantial, keep in mind that we — as of today — have about $10 billion worth of road and bridge projects we still have not started.
To continue reading the rest of this story, please click (HERE):