State lawmakers on Wednesday introduced an eleventh-hour bill to temporarily reduce property tax assessment rates, hoping to help Coloradans contend with skyrocketing real estate prices and the rising property tax bills that follow. The measure, Senate Bill 293, would also allow people to put off a portion of their increased residential property tax payments until […]
property taxes
Colorado election 2020 results: President, Senate, House and ballot questions
Colorado voters set turnout records in the 2020 election, driven by huge interest in the presidential race, a major U.S. Senate contest, a close battle in the 3rd Congressional District and a series of significant ballot measures. The Colorado Sun is tracking the election results in these top races and updating the counts in real […]
Colorado 2020 election: A quick guide to the ballot questions on abortion, wolves, taxes, sick leave and more
Colorado voters will decide 11 statewide policy questions on the November ballot — a list of far-reaching measures that will help set the direction for the state’s future. The 2020 ballot asks voters whether Colorado should put limits on abortion and create a state program designed to provide paid time off to workers for medical […]
Amendment B explained: What repealing the Gallagher Amendment would mean for Colorado and your property taxes
For the second straight year, Colorado voters face a choice on a complicated tax question that could have major implications for generations to come in terms of public services and taxpayers’ wallets. This time, the matter at hand is whether to repeal the Gallagher Amendment, a constitutional provision that has had more impact on Colorado […]
Amendment B puts spotlight on Gallagher’s mixed legacy of budget cuts, tax relief and inequality in Colorado
If you live in the Denver metro area, you can be forgiven if the panic surrounding the Gallagher Amendment sounds like utter nonsense. “What tax cuts?” a homeowner may ask. Gallagher has saved Colorado residents $2.8 billion in property taxes last year alone, but in the metro area, homeowners continue to see their property tax […]
Now that Colorado lawmakers have put Gallagher repeal on the ballot, will they actually be able to pass it?
When the General Assembly two years ago agreed to study the state’s dysfunctional property tax code, reform advocates were optimistic that years of warnings would finally lead to action. A bipartisan panel came up with a variety of options to repeal and replace the Gallagher Amendment, the constitutional measure that for decades has squeezed essential […]
Gallagher led to $35 billion in residential property tax cuts. Now Colorado lawmakers want voters to repeal it.
In a desperate attempt to stave off further budget calamity, state lawmakers are fast-tracking a landmark ballot measure that would ask voters to repeal the Gallagher Amendment — the property tax-limiting constitutional provision that has provided an estimated $35 billion in tax relief to Colorado homeowners since 1983. The bipartisan proposal — which requires a […]
Colorado’s $30.3 billion coronavirus-sickened state budget explained in 10 numbers
Colorado lawmakers will begin debate Monday on the $30.3 billion coronavirus-sickened state budget — and no one is happy. “Do we love this budget? No,” said state Rep. Daneya Esgar, a Pueblo Democrat and chairwoman of the Joint Budget Committee. “This budget is hard. There are a lot of cuts in this budget.” The cuts […]
Coronavirus may trigger the second-largest property tax cut in Colorado history, further crippling local budgets
At a moment when state and local governments are already drowning in red ink, Colorado’s constitution is now projected to trigger the second-largest residential property tax cut in modern history. Under forecasts presented Tuesday, Colorado lawmakers could be asked to cut residential property taxes by nearly 18% in 2021 to comply with a tax-limiting constitutional […]
Colorado cities want to embrace “gentle density” of granny flats, but they’re hitting speed bumps
On a corner lot along West Dakota Avenue in Westwood, a small structure has sprung from the backyard of the neighborhood’s typical one-story frame house. The detached unit represents a show of resistance in what sometimes seems an inexorable march toward economic displacement. With only a wooden plank rising to the front door and exposed […]