Pic via @RepCoryGardner

The total direct costs for residential property and living expense is estimated by EQECAT to be around $900 million.

EQECAT expects the losses to commercial and government properties and related expenses to total around $1 billion.

So reports Tom Larsen, Senior VP, Product Architect, EQECAT (an Oakland, CA catastrophe risk modeling company offering software and consulting advice for insurance, reinsurance & financial clients).

Rounding, that means that we face a TWO BILLION DOLLAR loss in our state. Insurance will cover some of these costs. Federal aid (think Katrina and Sandy) will help. But individual Coloradans and businesses, small and large, face some heavy lifting. As do our state and local governments.

Let’s clear the decks to concentrate fully upon responding to these catastrophic losses. This is not the time to burden our citizens and businesses with unrelated new taxes or regulatory excesses.

It’s also the time to set aside the brutal, foolish partisanship of our state government – especially the style that is deaf when our citizens wish to be heard. Republicans and Democrats alike must listen to all Coloradans and be willing to compromise.

• Democrats, that means you must be willing to cancel costly expanded state spending and re-direct the money transferred to the SEF per HB12-1338.
• Republicans, once the Democrats have cancelled their excesses in spending, if there is still need, you must gulp hard and help create a limited time, broad-based tax.
• Finally, quit kicking people when they’ve been dragged down by this catastrophe. Stop pushing this fall’s Amendment 66 – a Billion dollar tax hike – and urge a “no” vote.

 (Thanks to Curt Heintzelman for getting Larsen’s estimate to me at such speed.)