Jun 20

Coloradans can expect another TABOR windfall. How much depends on voters in November

Coloradans can expect another TABOR windfall. How much depends on voters in November

Story by Nick Coltrain, The Denver Post • 5h ago

Gov. Jared Polis signed SB23-303, Reduce Property Taxes and Voter-approved Revenue Change and SB23-304, Property Tax Valuation in front of the home of Joe Lloyd Medina, 78, in Commerce City on Wednesday, May 24, 2023.

Gov. Jared Polis signed SB23-303, Reduce Property Taxes and Voter-approved Revenue Change and SB23-304, Property Tax Valuation in front of the home of Joe Lloyd Medina, 78, in Commerce City on Wednesday, May 24, 2023.© Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post/TNS

Colorado economic forecasters predict another tax refund windfall next spring — though how Coloradans receive the excess collections depends on how they vote this November.

Forecasters for both the legislative and executive branches expect tax collections subject to Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR, caps to exceed $3.3 billion. That would be near the prior year’s record that lawmakers refunded through direct checks last fall. Following year forecasts still show excess collections, though not nearly as eye-popping.

The excess collections will surely become a point of leverage in a looming ballot box battle over state tax policy. Voters will decide this November on Proposition HH, a multi-faceted proposal aimed to blunt the sharpest edges of rising property taxes while also allowing the state to keep more tax dollars than currently allowed under TABOR.

Opponents are arguing its passage would lead to a long-term vacuuming of tax dollars that would otherwise be returned to taxpayers. Supporters, including Gov. Jared Polis and many lawmakers, argue the measure is necessary to backfill local governments and services whole while saving property owners hundreds of dollars a year in higher taxes driven by skyrocketing property values.

As an additional carrot, lawmakers attached a one-year, flat TABOR refund to the proposal passing. Economic forecasters with the Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting predict individual taxpayers would receive $873 per filer — if HH passes. Forecasters for the legislative branch, who estimate a slightly lower breach of the TABOR cap, predict it would be about $854.

If Proposition HH doesn’t pass, the state would revert to the six-tier refund mechanism that gives lower-income taxpayers lower refund amounts, and higher-income taxpayers higher refunds, under the philosophy that higher-income taxpayers paid more into the overcollected taxes.

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May 01

Twitter Post By Roger D. Hudson About TABOR, Gov. Polis, & Colorado’s Property Tax Problem

Roger D. Hudson @RogerHudsonCO
Polis unveiled his plan to fix Colorado’s #PropertyTax problem — it asks voters to use TABOR refunds. “While we at the Capitol were making new laws that were too expensive, real Coloradans have been opening up their mail —finding tax bills they can’t pay. bit.ly/3B2zDSd
Oct 29

Maybe it’s time to call off one-party rule in Colorado

October 28, 2022

Maybe it’s time to call off one-party rule in Colorado

By C.S. Boddie

 

Colorado has been under one-party rule by the Democrats for two or three elections now.  It’s a mess.  One of the people who helped create the mess, state senator Brittany Pettersen, is now running for Congress against Republican Erik Aadland in Colorado’s redrawn CD7.  Voters are making their choice right now.

Will Coloradoans elect Pettersen to a higher office?  Seems as though it would be failing her upward as Democrats did with Biden, and we see how that turned out.

During the recent 9News Debate, where journalists tossed softballs at Pettersen, the Democrat was first described in a voiceover as a Democratic state senator Brittany Pettersen who has focused on support for working families, mental health care and substance abuse issues.

Let’s focus on the phrase “working families” here.  Has Pettersen really supported them?  We can check her words for clues.

Pettersen’s website reads, “As a Colorado legislator, I passed the nation’s strongest Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, Colorado’s Red Flag law, and the Secure Savings Act.”  The first one seems supportive of working people, but it’s also a liberal darling.  The other two do not seem to relate; whether or not those accomplishments benefited working families is questionable.

Inflation is the top concern of working families; they are being harmed by record inflation in Colorado every day.  What has Pettersen said about inflation?  The word “inflation” does not appear anywhere on the candidate’s website.  However, the website is chock-full of Democrat canned phrases and talking points, which echo Governor Polis and President Biden.

Pettersen claims that as a state senator, she ensured that every Colorado taxpayer received a $750 check in July to provide relief in this difficult time (still referring to the pandemic).  The truth is that citizens received a refund because of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR), not because of Pettersen.  Democrats just made the payment happen earlier so that it could be used as a talking point for the election.

The website does include another bit about rising prices without mentioning the word “inflation”: “Prices for everything are going up because big corporations are increasing costs in a time of crisis while they are making record profits, and politicians in Washington aren’t putting our families first.  In the Colorado Senate, Brittany sponsored legislation to hold companies accountable for price gouging and will do the same in Congress.”

Nothing about how Democrats spending like drunken sailors has caused record inflation.  Nothing about how the Democrats’ war on oil and gas has raised prices on everything.  Oh, but she cut the gas tax in Colorado.

Pettersen’s website says, “In Congress, Brittany will fight to help address critical workforce needs by passing loan forgiveness programs in areas like education and health care.”  How does that address inflation?

How can a candidate help working families in Congress if she does not even recognize what a problem inflation is for them or admit that the source of inflation is government spending?

On taxes, Pettersen’s website repeats another old, false Democrat chestnut: “She will fight to repeal the 2017 Trump tax cuts that only benefited the wealthy and largest corporations, and will work to help give breaks to the middle class who have been left holding the bag for far too long.”  Seems like every candidate needs to get Trump’s name out there somehow.

What about crime?  Crime is another great concern of working families in Colorado.  How can they get to work on time if their car is stolen?  Car thefts have greatly increased while Pettersen has been in the state Senate.  Any ideas?

Nope.  No mention of crime and what she will do to reduce crime.  But she does mention protecting democracy.

How can Pettersen bring answers to one of the biggest concerns of our state’s working families when she doesn’t even mention crime as she is running to be their next representative in Congress?  And, by the way, the USA is representative democracy or a constitutional republic, not a direct democracy; shouldn’t a candidate who wants to represent people in Congress know that and not just parrot the talking points of her party’s elite?

By focusing only on the phrase “working families,” one can see a picture emerging of who Brittany Pettersen will be in Congress, and the picture is not a good one.  She may be another Squad member.  She will likely be only a rubber stamp for Democrats’ harmful policies that do not help, that do harm, working families all across the USA.

As for mental health and substance abuse issues, well, Pettersen cosponsored a bill to create heroin safe injection sites, but it did not go to a vote.  She sponsored a useless bill to fix flawed fentanyl law.  Enough said.

Let’s not fail Brittany Pettersen up into a seat in Congress.

C.S. Boddie writes for Meadowlark Press.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/10/maybe_its_time_to_call_off_oneparty_rule_in_colorado.html

Feb 14

Colorado House Rep Jovan Melton Said It’s None Of Taxpayer’s Business As To Where Taxpayer Money Is Spent

Ruh roh….
Colorado Rising State Action@COStateAction
 This says a lot. We need more accountability in state spending, not less.
Another reason we’re thankful for the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.
Jan 10

The Arrogant Hyposcrisy of COSenDems and YOUR Taxpayer Dollars

We can’t believe Colorado elected liberals. Keep in mind they’re the ones wasting taxpayer money (that’s your money, not theirs) & they won’t rebuild your roads and bridges

 

Excuse me but you sure sound like hypocrites
So are you following the will of the voters or not?

Prop 112 fails as voters say no to larger setbacks for oil and gas

DENVER, COLORADO – NOVEMBER 6: Suzanne Spiegel, a proponent of Proposition 112, center, and Tez Diaz, right, hug as they gather together with other organizers of Proposition 112 to concede defeat during the watch party for supporters for Proposition 112 at Big Trouble Restaurant inside Zeppelin Station on November 6, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. Colorado voters defeated their measure that would have created larger setbacks for oil and gas. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)

http://www.denverpost.com/…/colorado-proposition-112…/

And don’t forget what Colorado voters also said…

Colorado Prop CC: Effort to end TABOR refunds fails

DENVER, CO – NOVEMBER 05: Proposition CC opponents from left to right, Maggie Lit, Independence Institute and Josh Williams, Independence Institute, Ansley Bradwell, Libre Initiative and Lorenz Isidro, Americans for Prosperity celebrate the their victory at during an opposition watch party at the Great Northern restaurant, election night November 05, 2019. Proposition CC would have allowed the state to permanently keep all the money it collects above the state revenue limit and spend it on public schools, higher, education, roads, bridges, and transit. The opposition wanted the state to continue issuing refunds under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) when the state collects revenue in excess of the state’s annual revenue limit. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)

http://www.denverpost.com/…/proposition-cc-tabor…/

This proves our point that your party doesn’t care about spending other people’s money and views it as theirs.
Your priorities and morals are completely WRONG!
SMH at the utter hypocrisy of #CoSenDem
#TABOR
#ItsOurMoneyNotYours
#LiveWithinYourBudget

Another arrogant attempt to waste more taxpayer money by @COSenDems