Courtesy photo
The high
cost of living in Summit County is a first-hand experience for all of us.
The
supporters of the ballot measures this November to raise your taxes play on the
feel-good aspect of increased government spending and ignore the very real
contribution of state and local taxes to your cost of living.
With few
exceptions, our county, school district and state budgets increase every year. There
is only so much tax paying capacity for our taxpayers, and it is time to hold
our politicians at all levels accountable for a lack of discipline in prioritizing
program spending.
Proposition
CC: Vote no
Colorado
voters passed the Taxpayer Bill of Rights Amendment to the state constitution
in 1992 to provide protections against unchecked government spending that leads
to massive debt like we see at the federal level and in some states like
California.
TABOR has
two main provisions. First, it limits spending increases to population growth plus
inflation. Second, any revenue collected above this increase must be returned
to taxpayers as a refund.
Proposition
CC would permanently eliminate the refund provision. Supporters of
Proposition CC claim it is necessary to fund unmet needs for K-12 education,
higher education and transportation.
We do not
have a revenue problem. We have a spending priority problem. In the past 10
years, the state budget has increased from $19.9 billion to $32.5 billion for
fiscal year 2020.
We have been
down this road before. Referendum C, passed in 2005, specified a five-year
suspension of the refund provision. While the excess revenue from Referendum C
was intended for public education, health care and transportation, legislative
manipulation reduced general fund appropriations to these areas to effectively
divert the increased revenue to other programs.
Do not buy
into the propaganda that this is not a new tax. If the state keeps more of your
money, your taxes will go up. In an Oct. 3 editorial, The Denver Post labeled
Proposition CC fatally flawed and recommended a no vote.
Proposition
DD: Vote no
Supporters
of DD claim the money raised from the fees/taxes imposed on casinos that offer
sports betting will be used to protect our water rights. The Colorado Water Plan
adopted in 2015 is long on lofty goals and empty of specific plans.
Estimates for
implementation range from $20 billion to $40 billion. The highest estimates of
tax revenue from this measure do nothing to address the Water Plan in any
meaningful way, and its vague language on how the money would be spent leaves
open the opportunity for legislative manipulation of the general fund
appropriations.
Its
supporters have tied funding water projects to make one feel good about
expanding legalized gambling in Colorado.
Measure
4A: Vote no
Measure 4A
asks voters to allow Summit School District to reallocate money that originally
was earmarked for full-day kindergarten. A no vote is not against the intent of
the highlighted issues in the measure but rather how they are funded.
First, it is
misleading to imply it is not a new tax and that taxes will not go up. If it is
not a new tax, why was a TABOR notice of election required? Second, if assessed
values rise, your taxes must increase. Third, unlike the original 2007 measure,
this measure does not dedicate the increased revenue to a specific purpose. It
only states an intended purpose and leaves open its use based on the discretion
of the school board. Since this measure has an open-ended time frame, there is
little doubt the money will be moved around to other purposes.
Lastly, the
school board has not been held accountable in setting spending priorities. The
Coordinated Election Notice shows district fiscal year spending has increased
nearly $11 million since the 2015-16 school year, a 24% increase. Fiscal year
spending for 2020-21 will increase an additional $4.3 million without the
proposed tax increase. Citing total enrollment figures published by the Colorado
Department of Education, the district’s total enrollment has increased from
3,346 students in 2015-16 to 3,438 in 2018-19, an increase of 92 students. It
is time for the school District to learn to live within its existing revenue
streams.
Measures
1A and 1B: Vote no
The county’s
budget has grown from $52.2 million in 2015 to a projected $71.9 million in
2020 without the estimated revenue from these two measures; that is a 37.7% increase.
These measures (nicotine tax and open space funding) are wrapped in language
that emphasize good intentions to justify additional taxes. It is time to ask
the county to show discipline in setting program priorities with existing
revenue streams. The added intent of the nicotine tax to control/dictate
individual behavior is a government overreach.