My report for the Independence Institute on Governor Ritter's tax-raising proposal to fund new education programs is officially released today. Here is the summary: On March 12, 2007, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter proposed the “Colorado Children’s Amendment,†a plan to spend $84 million to expand preschool and kindergarten programs. To free state money to fund the programs, he proposed a mill levy rate “freeze†that would shift some of the school funding burden to local sources. On April 10, the governor revised the plan—offering tax relief to property owners in 33 school districts while creating higher property tax bills in 104 districts. The annual revenue estimate for the plan’s new version is $55 million. State … [Read more...]
Search Results for: property tax
Heath: “Grand Bargain” K-12 Tax Hike “Beginning to Take a Bite” from Elephant
Imagine sitting down to write a term paper or thesis, then releasing the first draft of the paper not only to your professor but to a worldwide audience. Now imagine your paper contains instructions for allocating billions of tax dollars to a bunch of different groups. You can start to understand what Colorado state senator Michael Johnston (D-Denver) feels like after releasing a draft of legislation to rewrite the state's 19-year-old School Finance Act. In the funny game of democratic politics, is it better to make a bold push in one direction, or to try to bring diverse interests together around a "Grand Bargain"? When it comes to Johnston's monumental effort, the question is being played out before our eyes. The idea is to tie "bold" … [Read more...]
Taxpayers Push Back, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker Goes Bold, Unions Raise Ruckus, Democrat Senators Run Away
Update II, 4:05 PM: Writing on the Townhall blog, Guy Benson offers up some exclusive video footage of the Wisconsin Democrat senators running away. John Hayward at Human Events offers some fascinating insights and concludes with a bit of powerful advice: "Governor Walker should take a page from the handbook of New Jersey governor Chris Christie, and face the unions down. Every teacher who participated in the illegal strike, or brought students to political rallies, should be fired immediately. The taxpayers of Wisconsin don’t have Hollywood celebrities and millionaire union bosses to brew up angry mobs to press their demands. They don’t have the luxury of slipping away from jobs they’re already nervous about to march around the state … [Read more...]
Ed Perlmutter’s Case for Death Tax Makes Case for His Own Retirement
The WhoSaidYouSaid crew is on a roll of late. Witness the following footage of my soon-to-be-retired liberal Democratic Congressman Ed Perlmutter extolling the virtues of the death tax: … [Read more...]
Stage Set for State Capitol Showdown on (Most of) Dirty Dozen Tax Hikes
Update: I'm not a big fan of the tax credits and exemptions per se. Some represent better policy than others. I would love to see a legislator propose an amendment that one or more of the tax credit revocations be offset by a general reduction to make it revenue-neutral. But since the Democrats' motivation with these "dirty dozen" bills is about scratching together more funds to help backfill the state budget, and not about creating a more equitable tax system with a minimal shared burden by businesses and consumers, I don't see the idea going anywhere. And that doesn't even bring us to the whole legal question of whether some or all of these bills violate TABOR in the state constitution because they raise taxes without a vote of the … [Read more...]
Once Proud Freedom-Loving Gazette Backs Colorado Springs Tax Hike
Last week I pointed out that financial concerns might end up pushing the Colorado Springs Gazette to abandon its longstanding position as a beacon of limited government, personal liberty, and fiscal sanity. Well, buckle up, because it's started happening really quickly. Witness today's Gazette editorial co-signed by publisher Steven Pope and John Weiss, publisher of the Lefty Colorado Springs Independent, pulling out the big scare to support a tax hike on the city's ballot. However, it's not clear the new Gazette management has considered all of the implications of the property tax increase (H/T Sean Paige). If the Gazette losing its independent, libertarian voice concerns you in the least, now is the time to speak up. … [Read more...]
Undeterred by Plain Reading of Constitution, State Supremes Stick It to Colorado Taxpayers
Update, 3/17: Law student Constructively Reasonable says the decision is a cause for "outrage". A watcher says Colorado may not as well even have a constitution. The Colorado Supreme Court has done it again, showing its disdain for taxpayer protections in the state constitution. From the majority opinion:When it issued its declaratory judgment order, the district court did not have the benefit of our recent decision in Barber v. Ritter, 196 P.3d 238 (Colo. 2008), in which we held that a statute challenged under article X, section 20 must be proven to be unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt. The trial court erroneously held that the relevant test of SB 07-199s constitutionality came from the interpretive guideline included in the … [Read more...]
Rossputin: Bill Ritter’s Transparent Try to Set Stage for Another Tax Hike
When I recently pointed out Governor Bill Ritter's public proclamation in favor of transparency, this wasn't the kind of transparency I was talking about. Rossputin explains:There's a reason that the first thing Ritter is proposing to do is cut education and prison funding, and "temporarily" suspend the homestead exemption which lowers property tax for many senior citizens, and it's the oldest liberal trick in the book: He's setting the stage for a tax increase proposal "for the children" and with the specter of violent felons roaming the streets unless we go along. Well, it's time to just say no to more liberal government expansion. Yes, Bill Ritter's announcement should make it rather transparent that he and the Democrats are … [Read more...]
Questions Linger as Colorado Supremes Sit on Ritter Tax Hike Decision
The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) and Governor Bill Ritter are defendants in a case filed by the Independence Institute (disclosure: where I work) and numerous aggrieved taxpayers over a 2007 law that raised property taxes without a proper vote of the people, as required by the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights. Denver District Court Judge Christine Habas came down on the side of the people nearly seven months ago, but the Colorado Supreme Court has been silent since - despite reasonable expectations that critical tax revenue issues be addressed in a timely manner. As Face The State reports, CDE needs the Supreme Court to "hurry up":In June, Ritter, a defendant alongside CDE, appealed the decision to the state's highest court. Oral … [Read more...]
Jeffco School Tax Hike to Kick Granny Out, Create “Socialist Utopia”?
Update: The story has been picked up in the Denver Post. Conservative activist Tom Graham of Arvada is the culprit. Not the best tactical approach from my point of view. Why? Because now we have to watch and make sure that government public relations teams don't make Mr. Graham the election issue instead of the burdensome tax hike. Also, a copy of the booklet is viewable online. Voters in Jefferson County, have you seen the official published arguments for Jeffco Schools 3A, a $34 million-per-year property tax increase to fund Colorado's largest school district? I looked in vain for a copy of the voter booklet on the Jefferson County Elections Office web page, but little Eddie has helped us out by typing out a copy and providing his own … [Read more...]
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