Defending the Colorado Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR)
By VINCENT CARROLL Denver Post Opinion Writer No matter how much Boulder strains to pretend a tax is a fee, a tax is still a tax. And that includes the 10 cent tax that Boulder just enacted on each paper and plastic bag used at food stores, starting next July. As Erica Meltzer explained in the Daily
Read MoreBy Rob Natelson Guest Commentary Attorney General John Suthers is correct to appeal a federal judge’s decision that allows the anti-TABOR lawsuit to continue. The case arose when a group of government apologists sued in federal court to invalidate Colorado’s 20-year-old Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR). That measure assures that voters have the final say
Read MoreOct. 28–This November, the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights turns 20 years old. TABOR, as it is commonly called, is beloved by those who want to limit government. Its various provisions are broad and arcane, but the most well-known one — which many citizens love — prohibits Colorado governments, from the state on down to school
Read MoreOct. 31–Critics are using the 20th anniversary of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights to bash the voter-approved constitutional amendment as something devastating to our state. They talk as if government budgets and the economy are one in the same. Fund governments more, and we’re good to go. Fund them less, and it somehow amounts to
Read MoreOct. 29–More than one Colorado political expert has said that the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights has had more effect on state government than any other ballot measure in the state’s history. TABOR, as the 20-year-old voter-approved measure is known, has been felt across the state during two recessions. It’s best known for restricting Colorado governments
Read MoreThe Colorado Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) Foundation is a resource to educate and inform how TABOR protects Colorado taxpayers from runaway government spending. Anything posted on this site is not an endorsement of any political cause, party, or group.
Read MoreIP-12-2012 (October 2012) Author: Robert G. Natelson PDF of full Issue Paper Introduction: Opponents of popular participation in government have long argued that when a state constitution or legislature permits the people to vote on revenue measures and other laws, this puts the state out of compliance with the U.S. Constitution’s Guarantee Clause: the requirement
Read MoreNovember 8th, 2012, 6:11 pm · As of Thursday, lawmakers from Colorado Springs hold three of the four top leadership positions in the state Senate and House of Representatives. The outspoken Democratic Sen. John Morse was elected by the Senate Democratic caucus to be the chamber’s next president. In the House GOP elections, Colorado Springs
Read More(AP Photo/Ed Andrieski) Current and former lawmakers are taking the Taxpayer Bill of Rights to court for a second opinion. Workers install a large U.S. flag and a Colorado State Seal on the west side of the Capitol in Denver on Friday, January 7, 2011, as part of the decoration for the inauguration of Governor-elect
Read MoreCentennial will ask voters in November to exempt the city from having to refund excess revenue it takes in as required by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. TABOR requires local governments to send out refunds to its taxpayers when revenues exceed a certain amount. The intent of the law is to limit the growth of
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