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February 12, 2024 For Immediate Release
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CONTACT: Michael Fields – Advance Colorado – (720) 218-9478 Dave Davia – Colorado Concern – (303) 860-1201
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LEADING GROUPS THAT HAVE TAKEN OPPOSING SIDES ON PROPERTY TAX BALLOT MEASURES IN THE PAST JOIN FORCES BEHIND A PROPERTY TAX RELIEF PLAN FOR ’24 BALLOT |
- Colorado Concern, the state’s largest association of CEOs which has partnered with Governor Polis on property tax measures before, joins forces with Advance Colorado, a conservative advocacy organization, to head off historic property tax spike.
- The plan, which will appear on the 2024 ballot, would return property taxes to near-2022 levels, and cap property tax increases in the future.
- The two groups have taken opposing views on property tax issues in the past, but this time are pledging to mount a major campaign together to win approval for the relief measure.
- “Our ballot measure is balanced and thoughtful – we very intentionally protected funding increases for teachers, firefighters and other local districts, but we did so in a way that will end these crushing property tax increases once and for all.”
Denver, Colorado – Two major efforts to head off a crisis of exploding property taxes have merged into one, and their target is to deliver big relief to homeowners and local businesses on the 2024 ballot. Colorado Concern and Advance Colorado – two organizations that have taken opposing views on property tax issues like Proposition HH and the repeal of the Gallagher Amendment – are locking arms in support of a ballot measure that would provide real relief to Colorado’s homeowners and local businesses this November. Colorado Concern is the state’s largest association of CEOs which supported Prop. HH and the repeal of the Gallagher Amendment. Advance Colorado is the conservative advocacy group that opposed the repeal of Gallagher and Proposition HH. The joint ballot measure, filed late Friday afternoon, would return property taxes paid by homeowners and businesses to near-2022 levels, and cap revenue from future property tax increases at 4%. Only a vote of the people would allow governments to collect more than 4% in new property tax revenue in a year, a mechanism that will protect homeowners from huge property value spikes like those experienced in Colorado recently. The measure would help both homeowners and local businesses alike. 75% of the property tax relief in the ballot measure would go to residential and homeowner taxes, with the remaining 25% benefiting local businesses. Said Dave Davia, the CEO of Colorado Concern: “Our ballot measure is balanced and thoughtful – we very intentionally protected funding increases for teachers, firefighters and other local districts, but we did so in a way that will end these crushing property tax increases once and for all. We’re going to build a broad-based campaign, and we fully expect the voters of Colorado to resoundingly support the plan in November.” “Coloradans across the political spectrum have made it crystal clear that they want significant and lasting property tax relief,” said Michael Fields, President of Advance Colorado. “Our measure rolls back the largest property tax increase in state history and then puts a cap in place to ensure that taxpayers won’t be hit with such huge tax increases in the future. This initiative ensures that government won’t grow faster than taxpayers’ wages.” Under the plan, local governments would still collect more revenue each year, just not the massive windfall that they are set to receive thanks to a surge in property values over the last several years. Without any action, the average homeowner in Colorado will see an 25% increase in their property tax bill. Many along Colorado’s fast growing Front Range will see property tax increases much higher than that. Said Davia, “The objective is balance – our teachers and firefighters need and deserve significant financial support, but the truth is we can do that without increasing property taxes on a local business or a homeowner by 30-40%.” The following is the amount of additional revenue local districts will receive even with the 4% cap in place. - 2020: $11.3 billion
- 2021: $11.9 billion
- 2022: $12.7 billion
- 2023: $13.2 billion
- 2024: $13.8 billion
The legislature would also have to provide additional funding to local districts over and above the 4% cap, thanks to the ballot measure’s backfill requirement. At the same time, though, the measure provides real property tax relief to Colorado. Here are the major provisions of the ballot measure: I. Provide meaningful property tax relief to homeowners.- Cut the residential property tax rate from 6.7% (soon to be 7.15%) to 5.7%.
- The effect of this rate cut will be to return property taxes to near-2022 levels, erasing the massive property tax increase that homeowners will begin feeling in the coming week.
- Because of TABOR, the legislature could never increase these tax rates.
- In addition to the rate cut, the ballot measure would exempt the first $55,000 in home value from any property tax.
- The impact of this provision would be to give many middle and low income property owners tax relief comparable to what the Gallagher Amendment would have delivered, except without the anti-business impact that was the bane of Gallagher. The $55,000 exemption is a provision first championed by Governor Jared Polis.
II. After more than 40 years of stiff and steady commercial property tax increases, our plan delivers responsible tax relief to business owners in Colorado.- Reduce the commercial property tax rate from 29% to 25.5%.
- Rather than just stop the bleeding, this package takes a meaningful step in addressing the punitive legacy of the Gallagher Amendment on the state’s business owners, by responsibly rolling back a tax rate on commercial real estate that is one of the highest in the nation.
III. Limit revenue growth on existing residential and commercial property to 4% year over year, unless voters authorize state government to collect and keep more.
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