In my last column, I suggested Gov. Jared Polis was wrong to call another special session for property tax cuts.
Now that it’s been held, we know why.
To recap, the special session was called after Republican extremists at Advance Colorado unexpectedly withdrew their support for the hefty bipartisan property tax cuts agreed upon in the 2024 legislative session.
The same group then blackmailed state leaders with two devastating property tax initiatives on the November ballot unless further cuts were made. Apparently, the threat was enough to make Polis and other Democrats cave to their demands despite the group holding zero power statewide.
So here we are, another special session for property taxes with another statewide property tax cut ready for Polis to sign. It’s the fifth time in four years that legislators have passed property tax cuts while overall costs for the state are rising, a trend that is slowly decimating our state budget.
For context, Colorado was already on track for a $572 million deficit by the 2025-26 fiscal year. Now, these cuts will add to that shortfall, with seemingly no plan to get us out of the red. It doesn’t take an accountant to see this isn’t a smart budgeting strategy.
Yes, saving a few bucks is always nice. But there were no gains to homeowners from this special session that will be worth the added fiscal impact. According to estimates, the summer cuts might amount to an average savings of $60 to $80 for a homeowner in 2025, a rate that pales in comparison to the average property tax cuts of hundreds of dollars already set to take effect from bipartisan legislation in the 2024 session.
Meanwhile, that paltry per-person savings rate amounts to another $255 million in losses for local services in the 2025 tax year, followed by a loss of $291 million by 2026. This especially leaves school districts in the lurch as they will take roughly half the loss at $136 million and $161 million in respective years. It’s yet another huge blow to Colorado kids, teachers, families and our futures.
But it’s more than just that. Holding a special session is by no means free. The daily rate to call legislators back to work early is estimated at nearly $25,000 per day, all of which comes from taxpayer pockets.
This includes a variety of one-off costs, such as travel reimbursement for lawmakers outside of the greater Denver area, Capitol employee pay for non-yearly workers and legislator stipends. None of these costs would be incurred if the special session weren’t held.
Holding a special session also means lawmakers are forced to upend their lives on a dime, and that legislation is expedited and exclusionary to many of the usual players. Who knows what unanticipated impacts we’ll see from this rushed legislation. All of this makes Polis’ call for another special session on property taxes particularly egregious.
Colorado Republicans have no power in the state government for a reason. Voters are sick and tired of the extremist antics, rhetoric and bad-faith legislating that have come to define Colorado’s Republican Party, and the faux property tax relief stunt pulled by Advance Colorado is yet one more example of why the party has long been in decline. Blackmailing state leaders is definitely wrong and not what most Coloradans voted for.
But seriously, what gives Colorado Democrats? Just because the GOP offers you a Halloween trick instead of a treat doesn’t mean you take it. What a waste to call a special session to save some homeowners a possible $60 to $80 at the expense of our fire departments and schools. Voters put you in charge precisely so we could avoid this kind of nonsense, not so we could cower to it.
That’s not what we signed up for, either.
Trish Zornio is a scientist, lecturer and writer who has worked at some of the nation’s top universities and hospitals. She’s an avid rock climber and was a 2020 candidate for the U.S. Senate in Colorado.
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