WILL ADVANCE COLORADO PULL THEIR PROPERTY TAX BALLOT MEASURES? We talked yesterday about the Governor being very afraid that we would vote to lower our property taxes on November's ballot so he is scheduling a Special Session that last week of August. Why then? Because if Advance Colorado, who is running the ballot measures, is going to pull them it needs to be before September 6th, which is the deadline to pull it. I've got Advance Colorado's Kristi Burton Brown on today at 12:30 to discuss what has to happen for them to take them off the ballot, but here it is in its entirety:
Key Points About the Property Tax Bill in the Special SessionBackground• Polling shows one of the most concerning issues to Colorado voters this year is property taxes.• Property taxes rose by 30%, on average, across the state last year.• Homeowners have expressed they cannot afford another spike. They want a guaranteed permanent property tax cut and cap.• Under current law, homeowners will see another property tax increase next year.• Advance Colorado sponsored two ballot measures – Initiatives 50 and 108 – to permanently cut and cap property taxes.Lead Up to a Special SessionThe threat of Advance’s ballot measures pushed the legislature and Gov. Polis to pass a bill during the 2024 legislative session that created nearly $1B in annual property tax savings. However, at that time, the Democrat legislators refused to take a deal that would have increased the savings to $1.6B and cap the full property tax bill.Now that 50 is on the ballot and 108 turned in sufficient signatures to be on the ballot in November, the legislature and Gov. Polis came back to the table and have agreed to pass a bill that permanently cuts and caps property taxes.The Special Session BillThe agreement: the legislature will pass and the Governor will sign a bipartisan bill guaranteeing permanent property tax relief in the form of a cut and a cap. These cuts and caps would be locked in by TABOR and could not be changed without a vote of the people. Specifically, the bill will: Cut the effective residential property tax rate to 6.3 or 6.4% depending on assessment growth; (It’s currently set to go up to 6.7% next year.) Cut the commercial property tax rate to 25%; (It’s currently at 29%.) Install a property tax cap of 5.25% for local governments and 6% or inflation growth cap for school districts. (The legislative session bill instituted a 5.5% cap for local governments and had *no* cap for school districts.)The bill also requires a key component from Initiative 50 – “TABOR for property taxes.” If a local government wants to opt out of the property tax cap, it will have to go to a vote of the people. Clear and non-biased language in the ballot question is required by the bill.In exchange for Colorado putting a permanent property tax cut and cap in law – that ensures property taxes do not go up again next year and cannot spike again the future – Advance Colorado will take 50 and 108 off the ballot, locking in a guaranteed property tax win for homeowners and businesses.