Jan 12

Freedom Minute | Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR)

Economist Dr. Paul Prentice explains Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) amendment. TABOR allows the state budget to grow each year at population plus inflation, while giving taxpayers the ability to vote on all tax and debt increases.

 

Jan 12

Polis Pitches Tax Cuts, But His Democrat-Run Statehouse Isn’t On Board

Polis Pitches Tax Cuts, But His Democrat-Run Statehouse Isn’t On Board

Patrick Gleason, Contributor
I cover the intersection of state & federal policy and politics.

Dec 15, 2023,05:40am EST

Colorado Governor Jared Polis (Photo by Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)
GETTY IMAGES

If Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) were to coauthor a New Republic column with Paul Krugman or another famous progressive economist touting the benefits of greater government spending, that would surprise many. Yet the ideological analog to that occurred recently, with Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D) coauthoring an article with economist Arthur Laffer, in which they tout the benefits of reduced tax rates. Governor Polis and Dr. Laffer also contend that the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), Colorado’s thirty one year old constitutional amendment that prevents state spending from growing faster than population growth plus inflation and requires tax hikes to receive voter approval, is flawed.

In their op-ed, published in National Review on December 7, Polis and Laffer lament that tax limitation measures “such as Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, that focus on tax payments rather than tax rates totally miss the opportunity to address the damage done by high tax rates.” Polis and Laffer bemoan the fact that TABOR surpluses are not automatically refunded in the form of tax rate reductions and instead go out as rebate checks.

“If there is an excess in tax revenues above population growth and inflation, as defined by TABOR, that means tax rates should have been lower but were not,” write Polis and Laffer. “The law serves as a signal that tax rates have been too high. The proper response to this signal is not to have it keep signaling, but to get the message and cut tax rates permanently.”

What’s more, Governor Polis’s stated desire for tax rate reductions is belied by his enactment of a bill that will make it more difficult to pass income tax cuts in the future by ballot measure. That new law, which was signed by Polis in 2021, mandates that citizen-initiated income tax cuts feature poison pill ballot language claiming the measure will reduce funding for education, healthcare, and other priorities, even when that’s not true.

Colorado House Minority Leader Mike Lynch (R) and Senator Byron Pelton (R) introduced a bill during last month’s special legislative session that would have reduced Colorado’s income tax rate from 4.4% to 4.0%. Governor Polis acknowledges the economic benefits of lowering income tax rates in his recent column, yet he did not support that bill, which was killed in committee along party lines.

Click (HERE) to go to Forbes to read the rest of this article

Jan 10

IRS won’t tax Colorado’s 2023 TABOR refunds

IRS won’t tax Colorado’s 2023 TABOR refunds

BY:  – JANUARY 9, 2024 3:32 PM

 The Internal Revenue Service headquarters building appeared to be mostly empty April 27, 2020, in the Federal Triangle section of Washington, D.C.

Coloradans don’t have to worry about paying taxes on their Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights refunds this year.

A spokesperson for Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet said he confirmed in a meeting with Gov. Jared Polis and Internal Revenue Service leadership Tuesday that TABOR refunds will not be taxed this filing season.

 New IRS guidance released in August left the possibility for TABOR refunds to be considered taxable income for the 2023 tax year, and it’s still possible the IRS will tax the refunds in the future.

Continue reading

Nov 02

Only tax INCREASES have to go on the ballot. Vote NO on Prop HH

Only tax INCREASES have to go on the ballot.

Tax DECREASES do not.

Prop HH is on the ballot. . . .

Don’t be fooled by Leftist smoke and mirrors.

This is one of the biggest money grabs in Colorado history.

#ItsYourMoneyNotTheirs
#DontBeFooled
#VoteNoOnPropHH
#TABOR

 

Oct 23

Hillman: How Proposition HH picks Colorado taxpayers’ pockets

We didn’t need an election this November to receive a modest property tax reduction.  The legislature can cut taxes anytime; it doesn’t need voter approval.

But with Coloradans facing the largest property tax increase of our lifetime due to soaring home prices, the legislature chose to put a massive expansion of government on the ballot disguised as a property tax cut.

Remember this: even if Proposition HH passes, property taxes will still increase.  If property values double in the next 10 years, so will property taxes.

The deceptive ballot question asks: “Shall the state reduce property taxes for homes and businesses…”  That sounds good, so voters may not read much further.  Even if they do, the ballot never explains voting “yes” is agreeing to give up refunds under the Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR) and to permanently increase the cost of state government. Continue reading

Oct 17

The Real Price Of Ballot Prop HH

The TABOR Committee welcomed the campaign by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) to oppose Proposition HH.

The organization is the nation’s leading group that represents small business, which includes individual retailers, independent professional practices and others that keep our country’s economy humming.  Colorado’s state chapter is at the forefront of the opposition.  The NFIB must have a supermajority of its members in order to take a position and all NFIB surveys and ballots must be statistically valid before release.  This vote was 9 to 1 to defeat Prop HH!  “It’s hard for any group to get such unanimity about even the time of day,” observed TABOR Committee Chairman Penn Pfiffner.  “It’s wonderfully overwhelming to see that strong vote from businesses across the state.

The NFIB has been speaking out against Proposition HH and running radio ads.  You can listen to those ads by clicking here.

 “We’re calling out Proposition HH for what it really is, a bait-and-switch, offering a temporary property tax cut but undoing TABOR refunds,” said Tony Gagliardi, the Colorado NFIB state director.

You can find more information at NFIB’s web page that covers its assessment of Proposition HH at https://www.nfib.com/refund-colorado/

 

#DontBeFooled
#ItsYourMoneyNotTheirs
#VoteNoOnPropHH
#TABOR

Oct 10

Raising your taxes is why Prop HH is on the ballot this November.

The Colorado Legislature is legally required to get your vote if they want to RAISE taxes. They can LOWER taxes at any point and without your vote.

Raising your taxes is why Prop HH is on the ballot this November.

#DontBeFooled
#ItsYourMoneyNotTheirs
#VoteNoOnPropHH
#TABOR