According to early returns reported by the Colorado Secretary of State on Tuesday evening, November 2, it appeared that all three of the statewide ballot measures were destined to go down in defeat.
As of 8:30pm on Tuesday, Proposition 119, which would increase the tax on marijuana sales to be used for ‘out-of-school’ enrichment programs with a priority on kids from low-income households, was running behind, with 54% voting ‘No’ and 46% voting ‘Yes’.
Amendment 78, which would require all state spending to be approved by legislative action — which is not currently the practice in Colorado regarding “custodial money,” money that comes from outside the state government, including federal emergency funds, money from legal settlements and grants — was running even further behind, with 57% of the voters saying ‘No’ and 43% saying ‘Yes’.
A similar fate — 57% ‘No’ and 43% ‘Yes’ — was being suffered by Proposition 120, which would have lowered Colorado property tax assessment rates on residential property from 7.15% to 6.5% and on commercial property from 29% to 26.4%, with backers saying it would cut taxes by an average of $1 billion annually.
However, the Democratic-majority Colorado legislature passed a bipartisan measure, SB21-293, last May in an attempt to thwart the measure — by approving $200 million in property tax cuts for two years and changing the tax code classifications from two categories to six. Opponents of Prop 120 argued that a permanent tax cut would negatively affect local governments, special districts and services residents rely on — and that, thanks to SB21-293, the ballot measure won’t do what proponents are promising.
This morning, with 80% of the ballots counted, the percentages remained approximately the same, with all three questions being rejected by Colorado voters.
Archuleta County had no candidates or ballot questions on this year’s ballot. Normally, this would be the year to elect School Board candidates in Archuleta County, but there were insufficient candidates to warrant an election, and the Board will fill vacancies through an appointment process.
Other communities had contentious contests going on. Denver, for example, had 12 candidates running for four school board seats, and early results show the four candidates backed by the teachers’ union with large or small leads. In Douglas County, school board campaigns were focused on ‘critical race theory’ issues and COVID protocols.
Also in Denver, the voters overwhelmingly approved new municipal bonds for housing, parks and recreation, transportation and city facilities, while just as overwhelmingly rejecting new marijuana taxes… and a sales tax cap proposed by conservatives.
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can’t seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.