Click the following link to watch TABOR Committee Chairman Penn Pfiffner explain it to Brandon Wark of Free State Colorado.
He also goes in depth to show why Colorado voters should vote YES on Proposition 117.
As the grassroots organization Vote on Fees points out, with liberal majorities in the legislature the Taxpayer Bill of Rights is the only thing preventing Democrats from going completely out of control at the state capitol.
Colorado’s state legislature uses the word “FEE” to grow state programs and spending without having to ask Coloradans for the permission to raise taxes required under our Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. Massive revenue increases like FASTER (car registration) fees, are taxes coming out of our pockets to pay for state programs, and should go through the same voter approval process as all tax increases. It’s not complicated — just ask the people.
Two-thirds of state revenue now falls outside of TABOR. We need to do a better job of managing our state’s more than $30 billion budget. The status quo of continuing to grow and create new state programs and finance them off of “fees” needs to end.
Democrats have recently been using fee increases as an end-run around the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, a state Constitutional amendment that gives voters the final say on all statewide tax increases. The recent use of “fees” to short-circuit our Constitutional rights is extremely troubling, and fiscally responsible voters need to put a stop to it immediately.
Prop 117 is a major threat to Democrats and their socialist vision for Colorado.
Thomas Jefferson pointed out that “My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government. That government is best which governs least.” As taxpayers, our wisdom was used by voting on an amendment back in 1992 to limit state spending to about the same as state growth — well known as the TABOR Amendment.
This has almost worked to keep the state from taxing us out of our hard-earned wages or profits. The problem is those in government always want to spend on their pet programs and have found a way around what we taxpayers have established as a very fair limit on government spending. We elect those to our legislature to care for our state and control our government so we can carry on with our own lives and families. That confidence really can be disappointing as the con in confidence can also be the con in conman.
According to The Common Sense Institute, a business-oriented coalition, the state budget was spending 46% or $2,403 per taxpayer outside of TABOR limits in 1993. Fast forward to 2019 and spending has increased so 69% of the sate budget is outside of Tabor limits which amount to $5,787 per taxpayer. The con seems to be with fees versus taxes.
To continue reading this Letter-to-the-Editor, please click (HERE):
By Chuck Wibby
In 1992, Colorado voters passed the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR. The amendment to the Colorado Constitution is widely despised by elected officials at every level of government. It is also widely loved by the majority of taxpaying citizens who pay the bills to employ those same elected officials.
Among its other provisions, TABOR contained an exemption for fee-based services that the government provides to citizens. It was a logical concession. After all, if the city wanted to operate a parking lot, it would be impractical to have a vote every time the city wanted to increase the cost to park your car in their lot.
TABOR’s intent was that “government-owned businesses that provide goods or services for a fee or surcharge” are “paid for by the individuals or entities that are purchasing the goods or services.” This is in contrast to “government agencies or programs that provide goods or services that are paid for by tax revenue.” Letting no good deed go unpunished, it didn’t take the state too long to figure out how to take advantage of TABOR’s allowance for fee-based enterprises.
Hart Van Denburg/CPR NewsColorado voters this November will make decisions on nearly a dozen proposed changes to the state’s laws and constitution. It’s one of the longest statewide ballots in recent history, with three measures referred by state lawmakers, seven proposals from citizen groups and one effort to repeal a recently-passed state law.
The decisions voters make on these questions will affect Colorado’s tax rates, government budgets, ecology and more. Many of these measures are supported and opposed by a range of organizations. CPR News is including those listed on the Secretary of State’s website or who are actively campaigning.
Colorado voters can choose to affirm or reject the legislature’s 2019 decision to join the National Popular Vote Compact. The Democratic-backed law could eventually bind Colorado and other states to commit their presidential election votes to the candidate who wins the most votes nationally, rather than the candidate who wins the state.
The Question: Should Colorado reintroduce gray wolves on certain lands west of the Continental Divide? If approved, it could help an endangered species recover its place in Colorado’s ecology, but the measure faces criticism from ranchers who fear they’ll lose livestock to the predators. Read more from CPR. Read the initiative text.
To continue reading and learn about the 9 other ballot questions, please click (HERE):
In November, Coloradans will vote on whether or not to require statewide voter approval of new state enterprises if the enterprise’s projected or actual revenue from fees and surcharges is greater than $100 million within its first five years.
To qualify for the ballot, proponents needed to submit 124,632 valid signatures. Of the 196,090 signatures submitted by proponents on July 31, 2020, 138,852 were projected to be valid based on a random sample.
Enterprises were established through the Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) amendment of 1992. Enterprises are government-owned businesses that provide goods or services for a fee or surcharge that is paid for by the individuals or entities that are purchasing the goods or services. Examples of enterprises include the state lottery, state nursing homes, correctional industries, parks and wildlife, public colleges and universities, and the state unemployment insurance program. This is in contrast to government agencies or programs that provide goods or services that are paid for by tax revenue. Enterprises may receive a maximum of 10% of their annual revenue from state and local government sources but are otherwise financially independent from the state government and any local governments. Enterprise revenue does not count toward the TABOR limit. TABOR limits the amount of money the state of Colorado can take in and spend. It limits the annual increase for some state revenue to inflation plus the percentage change in state population. Any money collected above this limit is refunded to taxpayers unless the voters allow the state to spend it.
In the fiscal year 1993-94, the first year TABOR was in effect, enterprise revenue was $724.3 million. In 2017-18, state enterprises received $17.9 billion in revenue. In total, from 1993 to 2018, Colorado enterprises have received $150.17 billion in revenue.
Taxpayers in Colorado turn over 8.8 percent of their income per capita to state and local governments, the 33rd highest percentage among the 50 states, according to an analysis by the website 24/7 Wall St.
State residents pay $1,209 per capita annually in income tax collections, $1,542 in property taxes and $1,339 in general sales tax collections, 24/7 Wall St. reported.
Nationwide, the portion of Americans’ income turned over to pay state and local taxes averaged 9.8 percent, or just over $5,000 a year, the analysis found. Federal taxes were not included in the study.
Colorado Rising State Action, the conservative advocacy group backing the Initiative 295, turned in more than 196,000 signatures in July, with 138,852 of those signatures being valid, the office said. The measure needed 124,632 valid signatures to make the ballot.
Taxpayer advocacy groups argue that lawmakers have used fees to avoid being subject to the state’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), a constitutional amendment that requires all tax increase be approved by voters. Under TABOR, state enterprise funds aren’t subject to TABOR’s revenue cap.
“It’s official, Coloradans will get to vote on strengthening TABOR this November,” Colorado Rising State Action Executive Director Michael Fields said in a statement. “State lawmakers have abused enterprise fees for years as a method to increase revenue and get around asking voters. It’s really simple, voters just want to be asked.”
DENVER — An initiative that would lower the state’s income tax rate has made it to the November ballot with more than enough qualified signatures.
Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced the Real Fair Tax Initiative (Initiative 306) was deemed sufficient with a projected percentage of valid signatures at 112.38 percent, negating the need to hand verify all 198,538 signatures gathered.
If passed by voters in, Colorado’s flat income tax rate will go from 4.63 percent to 4.55 percent starting with the 2020 tax year.
One of the initiative’s proponents said he was just doing what Gov. Jared Polis has asked for.
“I’m just Jared Polis’ faithful foot soldier,” said Jon Caldara, president of the free-market think tank Independence Institute.* “He campaigned that he wanted a flat rate reduction in taxes. We’re doing just that for him.”