Through Prop HH, Colorado families are set to receive over $5,000 in property tax savings and up to $10,000 in TABOR Rebates… Prop HH will have an immediate positive impact on all Coloradans’ pocketbooks, without harming schools and communities…
— from the The Colorado Fiscal Institute newsletter, October 3, 2023.
Near the conclusion of the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners work session, last Tuesday, commissioner Veronica Medina posed a question to her fellow commissioners, Ronnie Maez and Warren Brown. She referred to CCI — Colorado Counties Inc. — an association of counties that, among other political goals, works to keep Colorado counties well-funded.
“I know one of the big conversations is Prop HH. It’s a very big conversation…”
Commissioner Maez: “Very sneaky…”
Commissioner Medina: “Yes. And I know CCI was undecided whether they wanted to take that on, or not. They asked at the last meeting, if any of the counties had some type of letter or document, stating that they support it, or don’t support it…
“I don’t recall us ever discussing it? But we have not made a decision about whether Archuleta County supports Prop HH. I don’t know, if that’s something we want to do? To declare that we’re for it, or not for it? My personal opinion is, I don’t see the benefit of HH. It’s more like robbing from Peter to pay Paul. It doesn’t do justice for our constituents. There’s a better way to do it, and this is not it.”
To summarize the proposition quickly, HH would — if approved by the voters — reduce the property tax rate slightly, but it would also reduce the TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights) refunds that taxpayers receive when the state government collects revenues that exceed the TABOR limits. The money saved by reducing the TABOR refunds would go mainly to public schools. By one calculation, “over 80% of additional money retained from Proposition HH would go to education, with no accountability measures or spending guidelines.”
Local governments are often almost totally dependent on property taxes. The legislation is complicated, but it would appear that schools will benefit, while counties, fire districts, library districts and water district would be hurt, over the long run.
It’s not clear whether the average taxpayers would come out ahead, over the long run.
It does appear the state government would come out ahead… by a considerable margin. In the early years, the measure’s impact on TABOR refunds would be relatively small. Most taxpayers would lose no more than a few dozen dollars from their upcoming refunds, while homeowners might save hundreds because of lower taxes.
But the effects would ramp up, and Prop. HH eventually would redirect up to hundreds of millions — and then, billions — of dollars per year that otherwise would be refunded to taxpayers under our current TABOR limits.
Commissioner Brown: “Well, this was another classic piece of legislation that was introduced within three days of the end of the legislative session. You can almost count on it, regularly, that if it’s a bad piece of legislation, that’s when it’s going to hit, because then you can’t thoroughly discuss it; you can’t be as mindful, and to have conversations to bring up points that might not have been thought through…
“From my position, I think HH is a bad deal. It appeared to be a bad deal in the beginning. It hasn’t gotten any better. I wish the Governor and the Legislature had considered the proposal that was brought forward by some legislatures, to cap the property tax increases at 3%, knowing what has happened in all our communities. But that didn’t see the light of day.
“This is just bad.”
Commissioner Maez: “Yes, the other proposal was just common sense. This one doesn’t make any sense at all.”
Actually, Prop HH does make sense… if you believe Colorado’s state government and public schools are underfunded… and local governments are overfunded.
From HH proponents Colorado Fiscal Institute, who apparently feel that state government and schools are underfunded:
Proposition HH allows Colorado’s current revenue cap, put in place 30 years ago by TABOR, to grow by an extra 1%, and allows the state to use more of the revenue to it collects to provide relief to local governments, schools, and communities without increasing tax rates. With the proposed new revenue cap under HH, taxpayers can still expect between $300 and $1,300 in TABOR rebates each year, depending on their income… This will result in more than a billion dollars going to schools per year in the future.
One political committee that has been created to get Coloradans to vote ‘yes’ on Proposition HH is called “Property Tax Relief Now”. It has received about $745,000 in contributions.
Four committees have been formed to urge a ‘no’ vote, and collectively, they have received about $1.2 million in contributions.
From HH opponents Common Sense Institute:
When comparing the property tax increase to lost TABOR refunds, most taxpayers will pay more over the next 10 years if HH passes than if HH fails. Prop HH does not provide certainty or help to regulate the fluctuations in property taxes. A median priced home under current law would see a 36% tax increase from 2022 to 2023, and under Prop HH that same median average home still sees a large tax increase of 26%.
Renters… will lose an estimated $5,119 in TABOR refunds over the next decade. Renters will not see benefits from any of the TABOR refunds being redirected to slow the pace of property tax increases. Thus, renters will bear much of the cost for the $9 billion in new spending Prop HH requires.
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.