(The Center Square) – A property tax bill sits on Democratic Gov. Jared Polis’ desk, but he’s not going to sign it until two conservative groups remove “cap and cut” initiatives from the November ballot.
After passing out of the House by a 58-3 vote on Wednesday, the Senate voted to approve House Bill 24B-1001 and send it to Polis by a 30-4 margin on Thursday as the special session adjourned. It was called after Advance Colorado and Colorado Concern agreed to withdraw two ballot items. Initiative 50 would decrease property tax revenue in years when statewide levels are projected to increase more than 4% compared to the prior year. Initiative 108 would cut property tax revenue by approximately $3 billion in tax year 2025.
A media release from Advance Colorado stated the organization is working with Polis’ office to coordinate the withdrawal of the two initiatives from the November ballot and the bill signing.
“Today’s vote marks a huge win for Colorado taxpayers who have been hit with 30% average property tax increases,” Michael Fields, president of Advance Colorado, said in a statement. “For two years, we have said the solution taxpayers need is to cut taxes significantly and then put a cap in place so Colorado can avoid this crisis in the future. This bill gets that job done.”
The bill would reduce the assessment rate for residential property from 6.4% to 6.25% unless value growth throughout the state exceeds 5% from 2024 to 2025. If it exceeds 5%, the assessment rate would decrease to 6.1%.
The bill would reduce the assessment rate for school district mill levies to 7.05% from 7.15%. However, if statewide value exceeds 5% from 2024 to 2025, the rate would decline to 6.95%.
“Today we took an important step for Colorado to end the property tax wars,” Polis said in a statement. “With this bipartisan effort, we are saving hardworking Coloradans money on property taxes, saving households money on utility bills, making our small businesses more competitive, and protecting funding for our schools.”
Like debate in the House, Senate members talked about the many challenges regarding rising property taxes and disappointment with the final bill.
“It's not perfect because compromises are never perfect,” Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, D-Arvada, said during debate. “This compromise is difficult, I recognize that and I think we all need to recognize that. But I also think it's necessary.”
Sen. Mark Baisley, R-Roxborough Park, said the legislation failed to address the “shifting sand” of property values and the steep increases in assessments.
“Because the foundation is on shifting sand, we need to fix the foundation,” said Baisley, who voted against the bill with Democratic Sens. Lisa Cutter, D-Dakota Ridge, Nick Hinrichsen, D-Pueblo, and Sonya Jaquez Lewis, D-Boulder. “So while I appreciate all the efforts that went into this, I'm disappointed that we didn't fix the underlying problem in the first place.”
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