News this week from the Capitol that some entrenched lawmakers have dug in their heels against property-tax relief — and hope to sabotage it at the upcoming special legislative session on skyrocketing property taxes — couldn’t have come at a more telling time.
Only a day later, the Secretary of State’s Office announced Proposition 108 had officially qualified for the statewide ballot in November. Nearly 200,000 Colorado voters across the state had signed petitions for the tax-cutting proposal, one of two citizens ballot proposals for property-tax relief launched after the Legislature failed to address the topic meaningfully.
The timing spoke volumes about how jealously some ruling Democrats in the Legislature guard their power to tax and spend and grow government programs — and how utterly disconnected they are from rank-and-file home and business owners worried about paying their tax bills.
It’s also a reminder of the morbid fear some lawmakers harbor about the fall ballot’s two property-tax initiatives.
Amendment 50 would cap future property-tax increases from year to year at 4%, which leaves wiggle room to allow local governments to keep up with demand for their services.
Proposition 108, would cut property tax assessment rates to 5.7% for residential property and 24% for commercial property. It would return property tax bills to their levels of a couple of years ago.
Given the high likelihood both proposals would be adopted by voters, Gov. Jared Polis and the legislative leadership extended an olive branch to the proposals’ organizers — citizens advocacy group Advance Colorado and business community heavyweight Colorado Concern.
This month, the governor and lawmakers offered to incorporate key components of the proposals into state law at a special legislation session if the two groups withdraw their initiatives from the ballot.
The two sides agreed on draft legislation that would, among other provisions, cut the residential property tax rate to 6.3% or 6.4%; cut the commercial property tax rate to 25%, and cap the year-to-year growth rate for total property tax collections to 5.25% for local governments and 6%, or the rate of inflation, whichever is greater, for school districts.
Now, it seems state Rep. Mike Weissman, D-Aurora, and Sen. Chris Hansen, D-Denver, want to blow up the deal with a radical proposal that comes across a lot like tit for tat. They want the three-day special session that begins Monday to propose a state constitutional amendment on the fall ballot blocking future statewide ballot measures that limit property tax revenue.
The proposal is so far off center — and unlikely to garner public support — that it appears to be more of an attempt to derail the governor’s compromise with the proponents of the two ballot measures.
It will be challenging as it is for Polis to line up votes for the pending legislation among some of the more radical members of his party in the Legislature, and Weissman and Hansen probably figure their proposal can sow further dissension within Democratic ranks. Enough to deprive Polis’ compromise measure of the votes it needs to pass.
Then again, Weissman and Hansen’s measure is also a Hail Mary pass considering Polis holds most of the cards. So, we’ll just have to see how it plays out next week.
We’re for real tax relief — whether through the statehouse or the ballot box. We hope the special session succeeds, but for it to do so, Polis and his party allies will have to make good on their deal with the ballot issues’ proponents. Colorado’s taxpayers will be watching.
