Over the past several years, discussions around Colorado’s property taxes have gotten more intense, and, unfortunately, less informed. We are at a crucial moment where the General Assembly is considering entering into special session to enact tax policy changes to benefit the most wealthy in society to potentially avoid the threat that a ballot initiative might benefit the most wealthy in society even more. The General Assembly should not cower to the threat.
Property taxes are the primary way we fund our schools, fire departments and crucial public infrastructure. Wildfires have raged across the state this month, and many of the brave women and men fighting them who work for local fire districts are counting on property tax collections to pay for the health care and healing they will need when the fires are contained.
At the end of the 2024 legislative session, Republicans and Democrats came together to pass property tax reform legislation that was comprehensive and responsible. State Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer, a Republican prime sponsor who I’ve worked with on important finance legislation, said on the Senate floor: “Could we have gone farther? Probably, but not without seriously crippling the state’s budget.”
The day has come where the General Assembly is contemplating going further and seriously crippling the state’s budget. A group called Advance Colorado led by Michael Fields, who has close ties to the wealthy and conservative Koch family, has put forward ballot Initiatives 50 and 108, which would devastate public services in Colorado. Some of the provisions would hurt local governments directly. Others would hurt the state by requiring that state money offset the hurt to local governments, but the state is where the most important money for education and health care comes from.
The situation became more unfortunate when Colorado Concern, an organization that was formerly a cornerstone of bipartisan leadership, joined the destructive effort. Colorado Concern was previously led by former state Sen. Mike Kopp and took solid leadership on matters like statewide transportation funding. We worked together well and found the best balance of the private sector and public sector. That an organization I have cooperated with so deeply has joined in this act of hostage-taking is very disappointing.
The state’s school districts, fire districts and park and recreation districts are doing their jobs. They have lean budgets, hard-working staff and an energy to make their communities better. Our system of government has many problems, but local governments aren’t the issue here.
Advance Colorado and Colorado Concern have offered no plan as to how to offset the drastic cuts to the budgets of school districts, fire districts, counties and cities that Initiatives 50 and 108 would require. I once again ask them, let’s see if they respond.
Many have fear about the potential impacts of Initiatives 50 and 108, and they should. The measures would be devastating to our state. But we must not govern out of fear. Across multiple polling surveys, neither Initiative 50 nor 108 has received at least 40 percent in polls. Colorado citizens aren’t asking for dramatic cuts to public services; wealthy individuals who don’t have any need for public services are.
I served in the General Assembly when we addressed many difficult questions. How do we handle construction defects? What do we do about sexual harassment? What can we do to make our state retirement system solvent? All these questions were hard, but in none of them did we say we might need to take a certain position because we were under threat by wealthy interests.
The General Assembly reached a deal that Republicans Sen. Kirkmeyer and Rep. Lisa Frizell and Democrats Sen. Chris Hansen and Rep. Chris deGruy Kennedy could agree to and Gov. Jared Polis was willing to sign. Changing broad bipartisan public policy due to threat by moneyed special interests is the wrong choice, and every indication is that Colorado voters agree.
The question at this moment is whether the General Assembly will govern out of fear or govern out of strength, whether the right public policy comes from thoughtful bipartisan consideration or from those who can afford to pay folks to sit outside a King Soopers to collect signatures.
The answer isn’t the easiest one, but it’s the right one. The General Assembly should say enough is enough and let Initiatives 50 and 108 lose on their merits rather than cave to those who brought the destructive measures before us.
Matt Gray of Broomfield is a career public finance attorney who spent six years as a state legislator and chaired the House Transportation and Local Government Committee and served on the on the Finance Committee.
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Type of Story: Opinion
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Publish date : 2024-08-08 20:30:00
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