Democrats sell Colorado tax hike as a tax cut
Washington Examiner
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At the behest of teachers unions, Colorado Democrats repealed state protections against rising property taxes in 2020. Now, just three years later, outraged voters are demanding property tax relief.
But instead of reinstituting the old property tax protections that had worked for decades, Democrats have come up with a new plan: It’s called Proposition HH, and it would essentially repeal the state’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights spending limits, giving Democrats the ability to tax and spend to their hearts delight.
Passed in 1982, Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights set a limit on how high Colorado spending could rise each year based on the prior year’s spending limit, plus inflation, plus population growth. Under the state constitution, any tax revenue raised beyond this limit is automatically refunded to taxpayers each year. In 2022, for example, TABOR returned every taxpayer $750 in the form of a check from the government; joint filers received $1,500.
Using the drop in local tax revenue during the COVID shutdowns as an excuse, Democrats and their teachers union allies in 2020 pushed through a repeal of Colorado’s long-standing property tax protections, more commonly known in the state as the Gallagher Amendment. It is estimated the amendment saved Colorado property owners $35 billion since 1983.
With the Gallagher Amendment protections gone, however, Colorado homeowners have seen their tax bills skyrocket and they want change now. But the Democrats who control the governor’s mansion and the General Assembly are ideologically incapable of returning tax dollars to citizens.
Instead of reinstituting the Gallagher Amendment, which successfully protected property owners for decades, Democrats have placed a slickly worded proposition on the ballot that sounds like a tax cut, but is really a tax hike. Here is what the proposition says:
“Shall the state reduce property taxes for homes and businesses, including expanding property tax relief for seniors, and backfill counties, water districts, fire districts, ambulance and hospital districts, and other local governments and fund school districts by using a portion of the state surplus up to the proposition HH cap as defined in this measure.”
It is deliberately confusing and deceptive. When the proposition says “by using a portion of the state surplus,” what it means is that no Colorado taxpayer will ever see a tax refund check again. Proposition HH repeals Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights by turning what was a taxpayer refund into a slush fund for Democrats’ spending priorities.
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This is why Proposition HH is being bankrolled by the Colorado Education Association and far-left dark money groups such as the Sixteen Thirty Fund.
Colorado has historically been one of the least taxed states, which is a big reason why it has enjoyed above-average economic and population growth. Proposition HH would change all that, dooming Colorado to slow economic growth and a California-like future.