Category Archives: TABOR news story

Jul 20

TABOR timeout ballot measure won’t go to voters this year

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TABOR timeout ballot measure won’t go to voters this year

A group trying to convince voters to hit the pause button on the state’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights, which limits government spending, has officially called it quits.

The effort would have been what Coloradans call a “de-Brucing,” named as such because the architect of TABOR is an anti-tax folk hero named Douglas Bruce. (Fun fact: He’s sitting in prison right now on charges that stem from a previous bust for tax evasion.)

Backed by a group called Colorado Priorities, the ballot measure would have asked voters in November if they wanted to grant the state government permission, for 10 years, to retain tax money that flowed over TABOR-mandated revenue caps. TABOR currently requires any revenue generated over projected limits to go back to individual taxpayers in the form of refunds.

If voters approved the measure, that money would instead have gone specifically toward transportation, education, mental health and senior services.

Colorado Priorities would have had to gather nearly 100,000 valid signatures in Colorado to get their proposal on the ballot. Petitioners were asking voters for their John Hancocks as recently as last week. The ballot measure grew out of an initiative called Building a Better Colorado, a bipartisan group of state leaders who held meetings around Colorado to determine what measures to try and put to voters this year. Continue reading →

Jul 20

Ballot campaign to suspend Colorado’s TABOR revenue caps ends

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Ed Sealover
ReporterDenver Business Journal

Concerned about ballot fatigue and suffering from a lack of fundraising, organizers of the Colorado Priorities campaign to pass a statewide de-Brucing ballot initiative blunting the impact of the state’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights ended their efforts for the 2016 election on Tuesday.

The proposal would have allowed the state government to keep any revenue it collected above the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights limit over the next 10 years and put it to prescribed uses — at least 35 percent toward education, at least 35 percent toward transportation and anything else toward mental-health and senior services.

Dan Ritchie, one of the leaders of the Building a Better Colorado initiative, explains the effort to a crowd at a Nov. 16 meeting in Denver.Dan Ritchie, one of the leaders of the Building a Better Colorado initiative, explains… more

ED SEALOVER | DENVER BUSINESS JOURNAL

Doing so would have eliminated the possibility of TABOR refunds that otherwise would go to statewide taxpayers when revenues exceed the caps. Continue reading →

Jul 20

Backers Pull Ballot Measure That Would Have Put TABOR On Pause

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Backers Pull Ballot Measure That Would Have Put TABOR On Pause | CPR

Colorado Priorities, a group backing a ballot measure that would have eased a revenue cap on state government, announced Tuesday that it has suspended its campaign.

The measure would have temporarily suspended refunds to taxpayers, as the Taxpayer Bill of Rights — or TABOR — requires when revenue collection outpaces population growth and inflation. The group says that revenue is needed elsewhere, especially in the state’s school and transportation systems.

Colorado Priorities’ executives cited a crowded ballot in their decision to stop their campaign.

 

Continue reading →

Jul 20

Colorado Court of Appeals rejects challenge under Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights

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Colorado Court of Appeals rejects challenge under Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights – Lexology

In a case decided on June 30, 2016, the Colorado Court of Appeals considered whether the Regional Transportation District and the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District violated the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (“TABOR”). The Court of Appeals’ decision reflects, courts are reluctant to invalidate legislation on TABOR grounds. The decision also makes it more difficult to challenge TABOR.

TABOR requires advance voter approval before a district may collect any new tax, increase a tax rate, or change a tax policy that causes a net tax revenue gain. Under Colorado law, the Regional Transportation District and the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (the “Districts”), along with the state, are granted taxing power.

In 2009, the legislature removed the state sales tax exemption for cigarettes, but the exemption remained in place for the Districts. In other words, the state could collect sales tax on cigarettes starting in 2009, but the Districts could not. The legislature also removed exemptions for direct mail advertising materials, candy, soda, and food containers in 2010, but these exemptions remained in place for the Districts.

 

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Jul 19

Lesley Smith and Laurie Albright: Sign a petition to de-fang TABOR

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Yup, spend more.
That’s the blueprint for fixing everything.
According to them, more money will solve public education.
Obama’s $870 Billion dollar Stimulus failed because it was too little.
They wanted to spend more, more, more.
Then you looked at the results.
No improvement at all.
But we’re deeper in debt and they are none the wiser.
Thank God for TABOR!
http://www.dailycamera.com/letters/ci_30138392/lesley-smith-and-laurie-albright-sign-petition-de
The Colorado economy is booming now compared to during the recent recession, but because of a 26-year-old tax policy embedded in the Colorado Constitution (informally called the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, or “TABOR”), Colorado cannot invest all of its tax revenue to make up for cuts made during those harder economic times. Instead, the amendment says that all revenue collected above an out-of-date cap must be refunded to Colorado taxpayers. Each taxpayer received a refund of $13 to $41 this year, while our state continued to cut funds for basic infrastructure and services.

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Jul 14

Madison County, Ill., to voters: Want to reduce your property taxes? | Illinois Policy | Illinois’ comeback story starts here

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Madison County, Ill., to voters: Want to reduce your property taxes? | Illinois Policy | Illinois’ comeback story starts here

Madison Il want to reduce your taxes

Adopting a taxpayer bill of rights, or TABOR, such as the one found in Colorado’s Constitution, would be another protection for Illinois taxpayers. A TABOR creates a formula that determines how much in taxes a government can collect in a year, based on increases in population and inflation. Any unit of government wanting to raise taxes or create a new tax would be required to seek voter approval first via a ballot referendum.

The Madison County referendum is a small, but positive, step toward reducing the property tax burden on Madison County residents and will provide much-needed relief to the taxpayers’ pocketbooks. Politicians and local officials across the state need to take similar steps to reduce the tax burden on their own residents. And to make sure Illinoisans will have a say in their tax burden in the future, Illinois should adopt a TABOR to the state constitution.

http://www.illinoispolicy.org/madison-county-ill-to-voters-want-to-reduce-your-property-taxes/

Jun 24

Spring of inaction: 2016 legislative session proves Illinois needs a taxpayer bill of rights

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Spring of inaction: 2016 legislative session proves Illinois needs a taxpayer bill of rights | Illinois Policy | Illinois’ comeback story starts here

Illinoisans need a taxpayer bill of rights so that politicians must ask permission from voters if they want to raise taxes.

Illinoisans need a taxpayer bill of rights so that politicians must ask permission from voters if they want to raise taxes.

Colorado adopted a Taxpayer Bill of Rights, or TABOR, as an amendment to the Colorado Constitution. The Colorado TABOR requires any government to seek voter approval before imposing a new tax or raising existing tax rates. The TABOR also contains a formula that determines how much in taxes a government can collect in a year, based on increases in population and inflation. If more revenues are collected than the formula allows, then the governing entity is required to reimburse the excess money back to the taxpayers.

A provision in Colorado’s TABOR allows excess revenues to be kept by the government if the taxpayers give voter approval through a ballot initiative. Anytime there is a proposal to raise taxes or keep excess tax revenues, the ballot must provide the following: information on the governing entity’s current and previous four years of spending, the proposed tax increase in percentages and estimated dollar amounts, and summaries of support for and opposition to the proposed tax increase.

 

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Jun 20

Vote NO on Initiative 117

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FYI, Vote NO on Initiative 117. Spread the word.
 

Initiative #117

State Spending
Proposes amending the Colorado statutes to:
  • allow the state to keep and spend all revenue it collects through June 30, 2026;
  • raise the limit on the amount the state may keep and spend beginning July 1, 2026; and
  • require that any money the state keeps over its existing limit be spent on education, transportation projects, mental health services, and senior services, rather than refunding the money to taxpayers.
initiative 117
http://www.leg.state.co.us/LCS/Initiative%20Referendum/1516initrefr.nsf/b74b3fc5d676cdc987257ad8005bce6a/d87ae53dd844f43a87257fae00744f6f/$FILE/2015-2016%20117v1.pdf
Jun 10

EDITORIAL: Celebrate TABOR for Making Colorado strong

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EDITORIAL: Celebrate TABOR for Making Colorado strong | Colorado Springs Gazette, News

By: The Gazette editorial board

June 9, 2016 Updated: 
photo -

Colorado is reliably hot, economically. During good times and bad nationally and internationally, the economy typically produces above-average indicators when compared to other states. When Forbes, Business Insider and others rank states by economic performance, Colorado sometimes ranks first and seldom fails to finish among the top five.

One economic factor makes Colorado different than all other states. It’s called the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR. Only Colorado has such a law.

TABOR is like that persnickety old-school spouse who won’t let the household live beyond its means. The rest of the family may resent the rules, because compulsive spending is fun. But they ultimately benefit from the safety and security of a stable home.

The law restricts government spending with a formula that accounts for inflation and population growth. If revenues exceed what the formula allows, politicians must return the windfalls unless voters say otherwise. All changes to tax policy must be approved by a public vote.

TABOR is constantly under attack because it tells politicians “no.” It limits their ability to spend. But the benefits are not in question if one examines the facts.

 

Continue reading →

Jun 08

Colorado groups on IRS ‘targeting’ list

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Colorado groups on IRS ‘targeting’ list

June 7, 2016 5:10 PM· By Todd Shepherd

A handful of Colorado-based conservative organizations that sought tax-exempt status from the IRS are on the recently disclosed list of groups that were hit with additional scrutiny in the application process. In 2013, the IRS admitted and apologized for delaying the applications for tax-exempt status to groups with “tea party” or “patriot” in the group name.

A group called “TBD Colorado” is also on the list. Complete Colorado has not confirmed at the moment that the group is the same as the “To Be Determined Colorado” initiative launched by Governor Hickenlooper.

Among the list:

  • Citizen Awareness Project
  • Clear Information Colorado
  • Coalition for a Conservative Majority Colorado Springs
  • Coalition for a Conservative Majority Denver Chapter
  • Colorado Women’s Alliance
  • Common Sense Colorado
  • Northwest Colorado Alliance, Inc.
  • Tea Party Patriots, Denver
  • TBD Colorado
  • The TABOR Committee

All of the groups appear to have a conservative or right-of-center leaning with the exception of  TBD Colorado, if that group is indeed the non-profit arm of the Governor’s effort “to find solutions to the difficult problems facing the state.”

The list was created as a result of a class action lawsuit against the IRS. According to the Washington Times, which broke the story on Sunday:

The tax agency filed the list last month as part of a court case after a series of federal judges, fed up with what they said was the agency’s stonewalling, ordered it to get a move on. The case is a class-action lawsuit, so the list of names is critical to knowing the scope of those who would have a claim against the IRS.

Complete Colorado reported in May of 2013 that The TABOR Committee felt as though it had received unnecessary and unfair questioning regarding the nature of their organizations. That group is on the list.*

“Certainly, we were damaged by this,” said Penn Pfiffner, Chairman of the TABOR Committee. “It’s very likely that we’ll be looking to recover the costs by the delay in responding to the extraordinary questions we got.”

Among the many questions asked in the letter to The TABOR Committee were such items as:

“…please provide each [board officer’s] names and addresses of each individual’s employer/business, the nature of their employment/business…”

“Please provide copies of agendas and/or descriptions of topics covered at each of the organization’s general meetings and events since inception.”

“Please submit copies of all publications and/or advertising materials that have been distributed or will be distributed.”

The list of 426 names does not include 40 other names of organizations that had already opted out of being a part of any class action suit. However, the list of 426 exceeds the original estimate from the IRS of 298 groups that were targeted.

Group list of extra scrutiny targets by IRS

*The 2013 report names the group as The Tabor Foundation. The TABOR Foundation is the (c)(3), and The TABOR Committee is the (c)(4) arm of the same group.

CORRECTION: The original publishing of this article listed Common Sense Colorado as an organization that would not be considered right-of-center or conservative. That is incorrect.

Send us tips at CompleteColorado@gmail.com.

http://completecolorado.com/pagetwo/2016/06/07/colorado-groups-on-irs-targeting-list/