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Former state budget director Henry Sobanet this week offered a radical idea to kick off the first meeting of Colorado’s new task force on property tax relief.
What if, he suggested, Colorado had two property tax systems? One for schools, and one for local governments.
The idea could help address one of the fundamental tensions in Colorado’s tax code: Property taxes are so intertwined with virtually every function of government in the state, there’s no easy way for lawmakers to change them without creating problems for one public service or another.
Property taxes directly fund schools, cities, counties and special districts that provide essential services like fire protection, ambulances and libraries. But they indirectly fund just about everything else.
When property tax collections fall, the state has to chip in more to meet its constitutional obligation to fund public schools. That, in turn, takes funding away from other state programs, dictating how much money the state has left to spend on things like health care, social services and the criminal justice system.
“We are asking a lot out of our property tax system,” Sobanet testified Wednesday at the first meeting of Colorado’s Commission on Property Tax, the bipartisan task force established during November’s special legislative session.
“It’s glaringly apparent that if you could design a better school finance system, you could then separate how we pay for schools and what we want property taxes to do for schools from what all other local governments want to do,” added Sobanet, who is now the chief financial officer for Colorado State University. He led the Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting under Govs. Bill Owens and John Hickenlooper.
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CORRECTION: An item in Tuesday’s newsletter incorrectly reported Weld County Commissioner Scott James’ name.
MORE: A quick refresher on how property taxes work in Colorado: Schools and local governments set their own tax rates, known as mill levies. But the state determines the taxable value of properties through statewide assessment rates for homes, businesses and other kinds of property.
For decades, the Gallagher Amendment triggered automatic cuts to the residential assessment rate, delivering more than $35 billion in tax relief for homeowners as values rose. But those tax cuts had dire consequences for schools and public services in parts of the state where home values didn’t rise as quickly.
Voters repealed Gallagher in 2020, with mixed results. Thanks to rising property tax revenue, the state plans to fully fund K-12 schools for the first time since the Great Recession. But soaring tax bills have outraged many Colorado homeowners.
Policymakers have been left with conflicting directives. Many voters seem to want tax relief without harming schools and local services in the process.
Democrats tried to thread that needle with Proposition HH, the sweeping November ballot measure that would have simultaneously cut property taxes and increased state spending on schools. But voters rejected the convoluted initiative in a landslide. In response, the legislature adopted a temporary tax cut and created a task force to study a long-term solution.
Sobanet’s idea would give the state two separate sets of assessment rates, giving lawmakers more flexibility in how they deliver tax relief. One set of rates would apply to school taxes, which are tied to the state budget anyway. The other would apply to taxes paid to local governments, whose elected leaders have long sought greater control over their own finances.
It would be a radical change, and it’s not clear if the legislature could make it on its own or if a constitutional amendment would be needed.
But lawmakers may be in the market for radical changes. Anything short of rethinking how the state pays for schools, Sobanet suggested, may not solve the fundamental tension in Colorado’s property tax code.
Sobanet, of course, has a dog in the fight. Universities like CSU bore the brunt of the state funding cuts when the local share of K-12 funding plummeted over the past three decades. Those costs were largely passed on to higher education students through soaring tuition.
EVEN MORE: It’s only been one meeting, but the Commission on Property Tax already has a long list of options for how to deliver tax relief. Here’s some of what the commission is expected to study:
PROGRAMMING NOTE: We will be off Tuesday. See you back here on Dec. 29. Have a restful holiday! 🎅🕎🎄❄️
THE NARRATIVE
How Republicans in the Colorado legislature made the Trump ballot challenge possible
If it weren’t for Republicans in the state legislature, the successful Colorado challenge to Donald Trump’s candidacy making waves across the U.S. may not have been possible.
In 2017, at the end of the legislative session that year, an eight-page, bipartisan bill was introduced in the state Senate in response to voters’ overwhelming decision in the 2016 election to pass two ballot measures ditching caucuses for a presidential primary in Colorado and letting unaffiliated voters cast ballots in partisan primaries. The legislation, Senate Bill 305, was named the “primary election cleanup” bill.
At the time, Republicans controlled the stateSenate and Democrats controlled the House. That meant that measures needed bipartisan support to make it to the governor’s desk.
The prime sponsors of Senate Bill 305 in the Senate were Sens. Kevin Lundberg, R-Berthoud, and Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder. In the House, the prime sponsors were Minority Leader Patrick Neville, R-Castle Rock, and Rep. Mike Foote, D-Boulder.
The measure passed unanimously in the House and on a 33-2 vote in the Senate, with only Republican Sens. Randy Baumgardner of Hot Sulphur Springs and Larry Crowder of Alamosa voting “no.”
Tucked inside the bill was change to provision 1-4-1204, the part of Colorado’s election law that lets voters challenge candidates eligibility to be on the presidential primary ballot. Senate Bill 305 made it so the challenges are filed in district court instead of with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office and that they are brought as part of a legal process outlined in another part of the election code, called section 1-1-113.
Section 1-1-113 requires a district court judge to issue an order when an elected official “has committed or is about to commit a breach or neglect of duty or other wrongful act.” It also allows appeals of the district court’s ruling to be directly filed with the Colorado Supreme Court as long as they are submitted within three days.
That allows cases to bypass the Colorado Court of Appeals, the state’s second highest court, and to be resolved at a breakneck pace.
Why the change mattered: Part of the reason the challenge was brought in Colorado, where Trump is almost certain to lose again in 2024 if he is the GOP presidential nominee, is because of how sections 1-4-1204 and 1-1-113 of state election law interact.
Lawyers for the group of unaffiliated and Republican voters who filed the lawsuit testing Trump’s candidacy said Colorado’s system allowing voters to file ballot-access challenges and the speed with which courts are supposed to make a determination is unique.
Senate Bill 305 paved the way for the Trump candidacy challenge by starting the challenge process in the court system and linking it to section 1-1-113 instead of handling it in the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office and leaving it to the secretary of state’s discretion. Under the old system, it’s unclear if the challenge would have made its way into and through the court system and how long that would have taken.
Why was the change made? The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office at the time, led by Republican Wayne Williams, figured candidate challenges were bound to eventually end up in court anyway and that given the tight timeline for candidacy challenges it was better to streamline them. There were also questions from election law observers about whether the office could handle such cases. (1-4-1204 was put in state law as part of the 2016 ballot measure moving Colorado to a presidential primary system.)
Fenberg told The Unaffiliated on Thursday that he couldn’t remember all the political history behind 1-4-1204, but that the change had to have been supported by both the Colorado Democratic Party and Colorado GOP to be in the bill. “No one saw any issues and that’s why it moved forward with that kind of sponsorship,” he said.
MORE: One of the cosponsors of the bill in the House was Rep. Dave Williams, R-Colorado Springs, who is now chairman of the Colorado GOP.
Williams has been highly critical of the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to bar Trump from the presidential primary ballot, calling it a “clearly unconstitutional power grab.”
STORY: How Colorado’s election laws made the state ripe for challenging Donald Trump’s candidacy
STORY: Donald Trump blocked from appearing on presidential primary ballot by Colorado Supreme Court
YOU HEARD IT HERE
All eyes are now on the U.S. Supreme Court after the Colorado Supreme Court this week blocked Donald Trump from the state’s Republican presidential primary ballot after finding that he is disqualified from running for office because he engaged in an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol.
But the prospect of the U.S. Supreme Court making a decision before Colorado’s Jan. 5 ballot certification deadline seems unlikely.
Griswold told The Sun that it takes between eight and 10 days to print ballots, which must be sent to military and overseas voters starting Jan. 20 under federal law.
The U.S. Supreme Court could waive the Jan. 20 deadline, but that may also push back the deadline for county clerks to accept and finish counting ballots after Election Day.
“If the U.S. Supreme Court decides to take the case, I hope they do so with the same urgency that the Colorado court system has shown,” Griswold said.
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THE POLITICAL TICKER
BALLOT MEASURES: The state Title Board on Wednesday rejected three proposed 2024 ballot measures that would have overhauled Colorado’s election system, ruling that each violates a provision in the state constitution requiring that ballot initiatives deal with only a single subject. The proponents of the overhaul, led by former DaVita CEO Kent Thiry, filed 20 new iterations of the proposals late Thursday. The measures seek to move Colorado to an open primary system and adopt ranked-choice voting in general elections as well as do away with Colorado’s caucus and assembly process and stop vacancy committees from filling legislative openings.
COLORADO CONCERN: Dave Davia, the CEO of the Rocky Mountain Mechanical Contractors Association, has been named the new president and CEO of Colorado Concern, the nonprofit representing business leaders in the state. Davia, who has served on the Common Sense Institute board since January 2019, takes over the role from Mike Kopp, a former state lawmaker. “I consider this opportunity to be the pinnacle of my career and am extremely proud to support this organization,” Davia said in a written statement. The appointment comes as Colorado Concern is pursuing a 2024 ballot measure that would roll back property valuations to their early-pandemic levels and then limit future value increases
ECONOMY: Colorado’s unemployment rate in November remained flat at 3.3%, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. The labor force grew by 2,700 in November to 3,249,700 while the number of employed people in the state grew by 19,000 to 107,900.
COLORADO LEGISLATURE: Former Thornton City Councilwoman and 2023 Thornton mayoral candidate Julia Marvin is vying for a Democratic vacancy committee appointment to replace Democratic state Rep. Said Sharbini. Sharbini, a Brighton Democrat, announced his Dec. 31 resignation this week. The committee that makes the appointment in House District 31 is expected to meet Jan. 22. It’s unclear who else will throw their hat in the ring. Marvin lost her bid to unseat Thornton Mayor Jan Kulmann, a Republican, in November.
ELECTION 2024: Denver attorney Sean Camacho has picked up the endorsement of three more Capitol Democrats in his primary bid to unseat Democratic state Rep. Elisabeth Epps next year. Sens. Rachel Zenzinger and Jeff Bridges are backing Camacho, as is Rep. Cathy Kipp. Bridges and Kipp endorsed Epps’ 2022 primary opponent, Katie March, a former top aide to then-House Speaker Alec Garnett.
ELECTION 2024: Former Colorado House Minority Leader Patrick Neville has endorsed former state lawmaker Ted Harvey in the Republican’s bid to represent the 4th Congressional District. Neville was considering running for the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, R-Windsor. “Because this conservative Republican district deserves a battle-tested warrior to fight for us, I’m delighted that Ted Harvey has answered liberty’s call to step up and lead. I’ll be doing all I can to support his election,” Neville said in a written statement.
STORY: The housing market has buoyed Colorado’s state budget. That may not last.
STORY: Three questions for RTD as a momentous 2024 for transit is just down the tracks
STORY: “None of the above” option to appear on Colorado’s Democratic presidential primary ballots
AXIOS: Centrist Democrats target Lauren Boebert and Derrick Van Orden in 2024
THE WASHINGTON POST: Michael Bennet’s family fled the Nazis. Now, he won’t give up on Ukraine.
THE DENVER POST: 6 new Colorado laws that go into effect Jan. 1
COLORADO PUBLIC RADIO: In D.C., lawmakers deck their halls with a holiday decorating contest. A Coloradan judged this year’s competition
CBS4: Colorado high court justices getting threats after Trump ruling, report says
DO THE MATH
$407,469
How much the Colorado GOP raised in November, according to the party’s filing Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission.
That’s more than the roughly $300,000 the party raised in the previous 10 months of 2023.
Most of the money the Colorado GOP raised in November — nearly $265,000 — came through Protect the House 2024, a federal joint fundraising committee to which donors may write a single check with proceeds split among 20 state GOP committees and at least 30 candidate committees, including the one belonging to U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Garfield County.
Nearly 25% of the party’s itemized contributions — donations of $200 or more — from individual donors last month came from Floridians, while nearly 21% came from Texans and 18% came from Californians. The party spent $90,000 in November and had nearly $543,000 in the bank at the end of the month.
Among the notable people who gave money to the Colorado GOP via Protect the House 2024:
What we’ll be watching going forward: Will the Colorado GOP route some of the joint fundraising cash to the Republican National Committee or the National Republican Congressional Committee? That’s happened in the past with joint fundraising proceeds. The RNC or NRCC could turn around and spend any money it receives from the Colorado GOP in Colorado’s 3rd and 8th Congressional Districts, which are expected to be 2024 toss-ups.
MORE: The Colorado GOP reported receiving donations from two presidential candidates in November to satisfy the party’s ballot-access requirement that they either pay $40,000 or pay $20,000 and visit Colorado or hold a fundraiser for the party.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign and his leadership PAC gave a total of $20,000. The Colorado GOP received an additional $10,000 each from Carlos Duart, a Miami entrepreneur, and Tina Vidal, a Miami health care executive, who are designated in campaign finance reports as DeSantis’ “ballot partners.”
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign donated $40,000.
It’s likely the state party will report payments from former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Dallas pastor Ryan Binkley in next month’s filing. All three have secured a spot on Colorado’s presidential primary ballot after receiving state party approval.
EVEN MORE: After its big fundraising month, the Colorado GOP made its first payroll expenditure since Chairman Dave Williams took over.
Greg Allan received $1,963 for his part-time role helping with the party’s financial accounting.
Treasurer Tom Bjorklund’s company, Tactical Data Solutions, received $8,000 for financial services. Fox Group Ltd., Williams’ consulting company, received $6,000. Williams also received nearly $1,400 for mileage and $1,900 for equipment reimbursement.
ADDENDUM: The Colorado Democratic Party raised nearly $100,000 in November. It spent $90,000 and had nearly $194,000 in cash at the end of the month.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Corrections & Clarifications
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