Affirm Commitment to the Taxpayer Bill of Rights

Second Regular Session Seventy-fifth General Assembly STATE OF COLORADO INTRODUCED LLS NO. R26-0913.01 Jacob Bennington x2371 HOUSE SPONSORSHIP Gonzalez R. and Barron, House Committees State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs HOUSE RESOLUTION 26-1008 CONCERNING SUPPORTING THE TAXPAYER'S BILL OF RIGHTS, AND, IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, AFFIRMING TAXPAYER CONSENT AND BALLOT TRANSPARENCY AND CONDEMNING PRACTICES THAT CIRCUMVENT VOTER APPROVAL.

WHEREAS, The Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR), adopted by Colorado voters in 1992 as section 20 of article X of the Colorado Constitution, was enacted to ensure that taxpayers are directly involved in major fiscal decisions affecting the collection and expenditure of public funds at the state and local level; and WHEREAS, Prior to the adoption of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, taxpayers were often excluded from decisions involving tax increases, debt obligations, and the growth of government spending, prompting Colorado voters to establish constitutional protections requiring taxpayer consent and transparency in fiscal policy; and WHEREAS, The Taxpayer's Bill of Rights affirms that the consent of the governed is required before government may impose new taxes, increase tax rates, extend expiring taxes, increase mill levies, incur debt, or enact tax policy changes that directly cause a net increase in tax Shading denotes HOUSE amendment. Double underlining denotes SENATE amendment.

Capital letters or bold & italic numbers indicate new material to be added to existing law. Dashes through the words or numbers indicate deletions from existing law.

revenue; and WHEREAS, The Taxpayer's Bill of Rights requires ballot transparency so voters receive clear information before approving fiscal measures, including ballot titles that disclose the nature of tax increases and election notices that provide estimates of fiscal impact, spending levels, and other financial information so that voters may evaluate proposed tax increases before casting their ballots; and WHEREAS, The Taxpayer's Bill of Rights requires advance voter information through the TABOR "NOTICE OF ELECTION TO INCREASE TAXES/TO INCREASE DEBT/ON A CITIZEN PETITION/ON A REFERRED MEASURE", commonly known as the TABOR Notice, which provides voters with estimates of fiscal impact, spending levels, and other financial information so that voters may evaluate proposed tax increases, the incurrence of debt, or policy changes resulting in net revenue increases before casting their ballots; and WHEREAS, The general assembly finds that these requirements are essential and must be strictly followed, and that recent and ongoing practices that omit, minimize, or obscure required fiscal information in ballot titles, notices, or related materials undermine the transparency and informed consent required by the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights; and WHEREAS, The transparency requirements contained in the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights ensure that voters receive clear and complete fiscal information so that consent to tax increases or revenue changes is informed and deliberate rather than obscured or withheld; and WHEREAS, Meaningful voter consent requires that ballot issues accurately disclose the fiscal consequences of proposed measures so that taxpayers are not misled regarding the scope, duration, or financial impact of proposed revenue changes; and WHEREAS, The Taxpayer's Bill of Rights establishes reasonable and balanced limits on government growth while preserving voters' ability to approve tax increases, tax policy changes that directly result in a net tax revenue gain, and the retention and spending of revenue collected above constitutional limits when they determine it is necessary; and WHEREAS, Under the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, the state of Colorado may grow its fiscal year spending by inflation plus population growth, local governments may grow by inflation plus local growth, and school districts may grow by inflation plus student enrollment, except where voters have approved measures allowing the state to retain and spend revenue that would otherwise be refunded to taxpayers, including measures such as Referendum C, which has allowed the state to retain and spend approximately forty-four billion five hundred million dollars that would otherwise have been refunded to taxpayers since its adoption, based on legislative council staff analysis; and WHEREAS, While the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights requires excess revenue to be refunded to taxpayers, legislative council staff analysis indicates that total TABOR refunds have amounted to approximately fourteen billion dollars in state overcollection of taxes, substantially less than the amount of revenue retained under Referendum C; and WHEREAS, These balanced limits ensure that taxpayers retain sufficient resources to support their families, their businesses, and the broader Colorado economy while continuing to meet the many revenue obligations imposed by the state and local government, including income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, vehicle registration fees, ownership taxes, and other state-government-imposed revenue sources; and WHEREAS, The Taxpayer's Bill of Rights protects local taxpayers through limits on property tax revenue growth, including the constitutional limitation on annual property tax revenue growth in section 20 (7)(c) of article X of the Colorado Constitution; and WHEREAS, The Taxpayer's Bill of Rights recognizes that tax increases may occur not only through explicit rate increases but also through policy changes that result in a direct net increase in tax revenue for any district, and therefore requires voter approval before such revenue-increasing changes may take effect; and WHEREAS, The Taxpayer's Bill of Rights protects taxpayers by requiring the state to refund revenue collected above constitutional limits, unless voters authorize the government to temporarily retain such revenue, and allowing citizens to challenge illegal tax collections in court and recover reasonable legal costs when such violations are proven; and WHEREAS, Since its adoption, the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights has returned approximately thirteen billion dollars to Colorado taxpayers, providing meaningful financial relief to families and businesses and strengthening the state's economy; and WHEREAS, By requiring the state government to prioritize spending within reasonable limits, the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights has helped the state of Colorado maintain fiscal discipline during economic downturns and periods of revenue uncertainty; and WHEREAS, The Taxpayer's Bill of Rights protects both taxpayers and local governments by restricting unfunded mandates imposed by the state, ensuring that the state may not shift financial obligations to local districts without appropriate funding or voter approval; and WHEREAS, The Taxpayer's Bill of Rights preserves a fair and uniform income tax system by maintaining a single income tax rate for all taxpayers, ensuring that prosperity, productivity, and hard work are not penalized by unequal tax treatment; and WHEREAS, The proposal that ultimately became the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights was presented to Colorado voters before its final adoption in 1992, allowing voters to carefully evaluate its provisions and consider how it would protect taxpayers and improve fiscal accountability; and WHEREAS, The version of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights approved by voters in 1992 reflected revisions and improvements made in response to feedback from Colorado voters during those earlier elections, demonstrating that the measure evolved to reflect the will and priorities of the electorate before its final passage; and WHEREAS, Since its adoption, the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights has continued to receive strong public support and remains a relevant and necessary safeguard that protects taxpayers, strengthens fiscal accountability, and ensures that the state government remains accountable to the people it serves; and WHEREAS, Members of the Colorado General Assembly swear an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and the Colorado Constitution, including the protections contained in the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights; and WHEREAS, The voters of Colorado elect members of the General Assembly to respect the constitutional limits established by the people and to safeguard the principle that taxpayers must consent before the state government increases taxes or retains additional revenue; and WHEREAS, Recent practices that attempt to circumvent, reinterpret, or minimize the requirement for voter approval undermine the intent of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights and weaken public trust in the state government; and WHEREAS, Efforts to obscure fiscal impacts in ballot language or to characterize revenue-increasing measures in ways that avoid clear disclosure to voters are inconsistent with the transparency and consent requirements established by the Colorado Constitution; now, therefore, Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Seventy-fifth General Assembly of the State of Colorado:

(1) That the undersigned members of the Colorado General Assembly affirm their support for the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights as a vital constitutional protection ensuring taxpayer consent, fiscal transparency, and responsible government spending;

(2) That this resolution reaffirms the oath of office taken by members of the Colorado General Assembly to uphold and defend the Colorado Constitution, including the protections established by the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights;

(3) That the undersigned affirm their commitment to uphold both the letter and the spirit of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights and to respect the decision of the Colorado voters who adopted these protections;

(4) That the undersigned condemn efforts to skirt, circumvent, or weaken the requirement of voter consent for tax increases or revenue changes and call upon all public officials to honor the constitutional protections established by the people of Colorado;

(5) That ballot issues presented to the voters should clearly and honestly disclose their fiscal effects so that taxpayers may exercise informed consent in decisions affecting the collection and expenditure of public funds; and

(6) That the principles embodied in the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights -taxpayer consent, ballot transparency, fiscal accountability, protection against unfunded mandates, and fair taxation-remain essential safeguards for the people of Colorado and for the integrity of the state's constitutional framework.