Lawmakers will convene Monday at the State Capitol for the second special legislative session on property taxes in less than a year, and although they have worked out a bipartisan compromise ahead of time, some Democrats plan to introduce a separate measure that threatens to derail the deal.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a deal breaker,鈥� Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, a key player in recent bipartisan property tax legislation, told KUNC. 鈥淸It] would take away the people's constitutional right to put a property tax initiative on the ballot, and that's wrong.鈥�
Next week's special session marks the latest phase of what Gov. Jared Polis and others have called Colorado鈥檚 鈥減roperty tax wars.鈥� Polis called the session in large part to avert the threat of two measures on the ballot in November, and , that lawmakers say would upend the state鈥檚 property tax system by cutting taxes without compensating for losses in local funding. In Colorado, property tax revenue funds public schools, fire departments, and other local services.
Supporters of the two initiatives, business group Colorado Concern and conservative political nonprofit Advance Colorado, didn鈥檛 think the legislature's bipartisan property tax relief measure passed this spring went far enough. As part of the deal established in recent weeks, they have agreed to withdraw the measures if lawmakers pass a new bill reducing taxes and more slowing tax growth even more.
Now, some Democrats want to use the special session to end the property tax wars once and for all, at least on the state level.
鈥淲hy does it make sense that voters in Douglas County are impacting the San Luis Valley, or voters in Denver are impacting agricultural communities on the eastern plains?鈥� Rep. Mike Weissman, D-Aurora, said. 鈥淲e don't need to keep doing that. We can put control of local government property taxes more squarely where it ought to be, which is in the hands of local communities around our state.鈥�
Weissman and Sen. Chris Hansen, D-Denver, want to give local governments and their voters control over property taxes in the future by changing the state constitution. They are proposing a constitutional amendment that would block statewide property tax ballot measures or legislation.
Weissman said they plan to introduce the amendment during next week鈥檚 special session instead of waiting until the regular legislative session in the spring, despite threats that it could upend the deal to avoid the ballot measures, because he sees the issue as urgent.
鈥淚 have heard for years from local governments. Frankly, they're pretty tired of getting whipsawed around like this,鈥� Weissman said. 鈥淭his is an appropriate question to consider in the context of the other legislation that will be making changes to property tax statutes and people's bills in the near term.鈥�
Republican lawmakers and organizers behind Initiatives 50 and 108 strongly oppose such a measure. Sen. Kirkmeyer said the proposed amendment would significantly curtail the citizen-initiated ballot initiative process, which she sees as an important piece of Colorado鈥檚 democratic process. 鈥淎ny citizen, whether it's a group or an association or whatever, has a constitutional right to put a measure on the ballot,鈥� Kirkmeyer said. 鈥淚'm not about amending and taking that right away. I think it's an important check and balance in our system, and it's a way that citizens get to keep the government in check.鈥�
Kirkmeyer worked with Gov. Polis鈥� office to bring the ballot measure鈥檚 backers back to the table ahead of the special session and was a main sponsor of this spring鈥檚 bipartisan property tax relief legislation.
The session and the deal behind it come amid mounting concerns over the increasing use of ballot measures as a tool for special interests to influence elected officials and the lawmaking process.
It also comes less than a year after Gov. Polis called a previous special session on property taxes last fall after Proposition HH, a tax measure backed by Polis and Democratic lawmakers, was rejected by voters last November.
Next week鈥檚 session starts Monday at 10:00 a.m. at the State Capitol. Members of the public can also watch the on the Colorado Channel鈥檚 YouTube page.
