The Wall Street Journal reports what many in Colorado’s media refuse to acknowledge, that Proposition HH is a back-door tax hike disguised by Democrat lawmakers as a property-tax cut.
The editorial board of the planet’s premiere financial publication warns taxpayers that any property taxes some might see will be wiped out by the elimination of our automatic tax refunds under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.
The Journal estimates the cost to taxpayers will be $21 billion through 2040.
They also warn Coloradans the masked tax hike is backed by the nation’s radicalized teachers’ union, which contributed $100,000 to support the Prop HH campaign.
From the WSJ:
Democratic Gov. Jared Polis has framed the referendum as a vital fix for public schools, saying that turning it down would “jeopardize or cut funding.” Never mind that funding per pupil grew 47% from 2007 to 2021. Enrollment declined in Colorado during the pandemic as it did in many states, yet the Legislature has changed the funding formula to preserve a higher baseline each year.
The editorial goes on to clear up some confusion about the ballot measure:
That’s a lot to stuff into a single referendum, and the confusion is probably intentional. The proposal is titled the “Property Tax Changes and Revenue Change Measure,” with no indication that taxpayers would pay more overall. The Democratic-controlled Legislature approved the changes quietly and referred them to the ballot on the last day of the legislative session in May.
Colorado Democrats have spent years trying to lift the spending cap, and the property-tax mirage is their latest gambit. Voters placed the limits on tax and spending increases in 1992 when they approved the state’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights, known as Tabor. It has blocked progressive lawmakers from blowing out state budgets as they’ve gained ground in the Legislature since 2005.
Democrat lawmakers made a critical error in promising property tax relief but delivering a tax hike instead.
When the measure fails, and it will, taxpayers will still expect the legislature to deliver on its promise to hold back the dam of inflated property taxes that are a result of Bidenomics.