The following press release came from Colorado Governor Jared Polis’ office yesterday afternoon.
On Thursday, August 15, Governor Polis called a special session of the General Assembly to deliver further property tax relief to Coloradans and avoid the risky and devastating impacts of Prop. 108 and Initiative 50, which would jeopardize funding for critical services in our state like education, as well as municipal bonds and borrowers’ ability to fund important projects like housing and schools. This special session will focus on property tax relief legislation to reduce Coloradans’ property tax burden starting in 2025 and will begin at 10:00am on August 26, 2024.
“We are focused on saving Coloradans money on property taxes, and in doing so, protecting school funding and higher education, preserving our economic competitiveness, and avoiding risky ballot measures,” said Governor Polis. “The cost of inaction is too high. We refuse to gamble with our schools, our economy, our future. Proposed ballot measures threaten to gut funding for K-12 and higher education, and Coloradans are counting on us to find a path forward that saves people money on property taxes while preserving these critical institutions.”
This agreed upon framework builds on the work of SB24-233 by further reducing assessment rates and adjusting the local and school district caps. Under this framework, estimates suggest that property owners will save $270 million on their taxes on top of the relief provided in SB24-233 in Property Tax Year 2025, and more in future years. This agreement is contingent on the proponents of Prop. 108 and Initiative 50 agreeing that those measures are removed from the November ballot and a further agreement that there will be no similar ballot measures in the future.
“Just as we successfully ended the oil and gas wars by bringing environmental groups and oil and gas together, I’m hopeful that the legislature will take bipartisan action to finally end the property tax wars and save people money,” Governor Polis said.
To preserve the integrity of the agreement, Governor Polis will not sign any legislation passed during the special session until the proponents of Prop. 108 and Initiative 50 pull the measures from the ballot.
The Governor has signed a number of bills into law to reduce property taxes. SB22-238, passed with bi-partisan support, reduced the residential property assessment valuation for 2023 and 2024 from 7.15% to 6.765% of actual value and 29% to 27.9% of actual value for nonresidential property. During the 2023 special session, the General Assembly passed bipartisan legislation to further reduce residential property tax rates to 6.7% of actual value and increased the amount that is exempt from taxation from $15,000 to $55,000. Earlier this year, Governor Polis signed the bipartisan SB24-233, which reduced property taxes by $1.3B for 2024 and 2025, providing an average of $500 in relief for Colorado families, while prioritizing school funding revenue.
Along with additional property tax savings that would be provided to homeowners and small businesses during this session, Xcel and Black Hills have to pass property tax savings on to their customers, saving Xcel and Black Hills customers about $100 over the next five years on their energy bills.
The announcement is the latest step Governor Polis is taking to bring groups with differing viewpoints together to find a solution that best serves Coloradans and avoid costly ballot fights. Earlier this year, Governor Polis worked to prevent costly and divisive ballot measures that threatened to roll back Colorado’s nation-leading climate action and harm the state’s economy, as well as to protect patient rights and provide more certainty for Colorado businesses and consumers.