CHEYENNE - Although Colorado and Wyoming have wide differences in their political leanings and lifestyles, the two neighboring states have something in common this year.
Both states have explosive tax issues on their general election ballots. Both have millions of dollars invested to mold public option for or against.
Wyoming’s ballot item, “People's Initiative to Limit Property Tax in Wyoming” would allow a 50% cut in property taxes.
At least one political action committee against the proposal is expected to spend more than $1 million to convince voters this is a very bad idea.
Their proponents claim the cut, when imposed on top of property tax reductions authorized earlier, will cripple the efforts of firefighters, law enforcement officers and emergency medical personnel.
That assistance is vital in a rural state like Wyoming, the opponents claim. The big tax break also will diminish the amount available for K-12 public schools.
Gov. Mark Gordon, the Wyoming Education Association and the Wyoming Taxpayers’ Association oppose the tax cut proposal.
Last month the Wyoming Republican Parry voted to support the big cut
The ballot tax issue surfaced two years ago, sponsored by Brent Bien, a former candidate for governor, and others, as a citizens-led proposal.
Getting the issue on the general election ballot required the collection of 40,669 signatures of registered voters from 16 of the state’s 23 counties.
This undertaking for any ballot initiative requires hiring a company to send workers to stand in front of supermarkets and malls collecting signatures throughout the state.
It is far too big a job for volunteers to handle.
The Legislature intentionally made the requirements stiff to prevent having a ballot cluttered with citizen initiatives.
The law prohibits using the ballot initiative to pass a constitutional amendment. That is why we don’t have term limits for legislators.
Such an amendment must first pass the Legislature and get the governors signature. A previous legislative attempt to pass a proposed amendment failed.
At any rate, this is why there is only one initiative on Wyoming’s general election ballot this year, and many other years.
Colorado, having a much easier signature requirement, has 15 citizen issues on its ballot this year, including six constitutional amendments.
Now, we’re talking big bucks.
Millions of dollars in untraceable money from conservative groups has flowed into Colorado in recent weeks to oppose a pair of liberal ballot measures that would change the tax code to raise billions of dollars in state revenue, primarily for things like education and healthcare, according to published internet accounts.
The millions are dubbed “dark money” because it is untraceable; the committees refuse to identify the donors.
Most of the money is targeted at a proposal which would impose a graduated income tax rate on businesses and individuals.
It would, if adopted, increase the tax burden on those earning more than about $500,000 in order to generate an estimated $2 billion in its first full year for healthcare, education and childcare.
The conservative money is also being spent to oppose a proposal which would eliminate potentially billions of dollars in Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights refunds for the foreseeable future, and redirect that money toward K-12 schools and early childhood programs.
Ah, the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, known as TABOR.
It passed with great fanfare in 1992 as a vehicle to curb state spending and reward citizens.
The law sets a cap on spending for the state government.
Critics have pointed out that government agencies got around the lost revenue by charging higher administrative fees.
Unlike sales tax, those fees do not require a vote of the people.
According to The Colorado Fiscal Institute, sales tax refunds have been issued only about one third of the time since 1992, when TABOR went into effect.
A couple of one-time payments of $800 for a single person and $1,600 for a family created a misleading picture of what TABOR refunds typically look like, the institute said.
There is no refund for 2026.
Furthermore, that ballot initiative, if passed, will end TABOR refunds for the foreseeable future, online sources report.
—Contact Joan Barron at 307-632-2534 or jmbarron@bresnan.net
