Gov. Jared Polis called on lawmakers Thursday to convene a special session of the state legislature for the second time in a year to provide property tax relief for Coloradans. The move is a response to a set of measures on the November ballot that threaten to undermine the state’s tax system.
“The cost of inaction is too high,” Polis said in a statement. “We refuse to gamble with our schools, our economy, our future. Proposed ballot measures threaten to gut funding for K-12 and higher education, and Coloradans are counting on us to find a path forward that saves people money on property taxes while preserving these critical institutions.”
This will be the second time in less than a year Polis has called a special session to address the property tax issue. Lawmakers convened last November after voters rejected Proposition HH, a previous property tax plan backed by the governor and Democratic lawmakers.
This time, the special session is part of an already-established deal with the supporters of the two initiatives, business group Colorado Concern and conservative political nonprofit Advance Colorado. They agreed to withdraw the measures in exchange for legislation that further cuts taxes and more aggressively slows tax growth.
The General Assembly will convene on August 26 . The special session must last at least three days in order to send a bill to the governor’s desk. Polis said he w ould not sign any bills passed during the special session until the initiatives are pulled from the ballot.
“I’m hopeful that the legislature will take bipartisan action to finally end the property tax wars,” Polis said.
Advance Colorado’s president Michael Fields called the special session “a big win” for Coloradans in a post on X.
This will be a big win for taxpayers!
— Michael Fields (@MichaelCLFields) August 15, 2024
$1.6B in savings annually
✅More residential relief
✅More small business relief
✅A cap on the whole property tax bill
✅Non-biased ballot language to opt out of the local caps #copolitics #coleg https://t.co/q5FI1ZmELr
The ballot measures at the center of the fight, Initiatives 50 and 108, would limit revenue growth from property taxes to 4% with no way for local communities to opt - out and cut residential and commercial property taxes by an estimated $2.4 billion. They would then require the legislature to make up for funding losses. In Colorado, property tax revenue funds public schools, fire departments , and other local services.
“Our vision for Colorado is a place where everyone, from the youngest learner to working families and older Coloradans, can thrive and afford a good life,” House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, said. “Initiatives 50 and 108 would do the opposite and risk our state’s future by defunding public schools, fire response, health care, libraries, water infrastructure , and municipal parks and recreation centers.”
The initiatives would also directly contradict the long-negotiated, bipartisan property tax bill state lawmakers passed this spring. The legislation prevented taxes from climbing too sharply while also avoiding or backfilling local funding losses, especially for schools, but did not actually cut taxes.
“As pleased as we are of our monumental achievement, we have always maintained that more work was necessary to bring Colorado taxpayers relief,” Senate Republicans said in a joint statement. “We are eager to return to the Gold Dome later this month and continue our efforts to bring permanent and substantial relief for Colorado’s taxpayers by lowering property valuation rates for both residential and non -residential properties.”
The session and the deal behind it come amid mounting concerns over the increasing use of ballot measures as a tool for wealthy interests to influence elected officials and the lawmaking process.
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