Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns

Zornio: Cut the politics — TABOR isn’t working for Colorado, even if we get a big, fat refund

The Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights has long provoked political tension, and this election year is proving no different, thanks to a larger-than-usual mandatory refund. But once again, politics is getting in the way of healthy policy discussion.  So let’s first put in context the politics, and then consider what actually matters. The political games began […]

Posted inBusiness, Economy, News

Colorado’s $1 billion unemployment loan on track to be paid off by November, preventing higher tax on employers

Colorado has paid back 87% of the $1 billion it borrowed from the federal government to provide out-of-work Coloradans unemployment benefits during the pandemic. As of this week, the outstanding balance was $133.1 million. There’s still a way to go to get the depleted unemployment insurance trust fund healthy again. But with Colorado’s strong job […]

Posted inNews, Politics and Government

Rising inflation is on a collision course with Colorado’s TABOR cap. And the state budget is in the middle.

The lawmakers who write Colorado’s budget are preparing to pare back some capital projects in the coming months as they contend with inflation straining a budget capped by the state’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. The TABOR cap, a key component of Colorado’s 1992 constitutional amendment limiting government growth and spending, is calculated by adding together […]

Posted inElection 2022, News, Politics and Government

Heidi Ganahl wants to eliminate Colorado’s income tax, which accounts for about a third of the state’s budget

Heidi Ganahl, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, is campaigning on a bold promise to eliminate Colorado’s 4.55% individual income tax, the largest source of revenue for the state’s general fund, during her first four-year term. “I will take us to zero income tax,” she told Republican voters during a candidate forum in April. But Ganahl, a […]