Tracking what's destroying Colorado
A curated collection of bills, news, and resources about Colorado politics and policy
A curated collection of bills, news, and resources about Colorado politics and policy
Colorado Taxation news, legislation, and policy updates.
28 articles tagged with "Taxation"
The 2025 U-Haul Growth Index highlights Texas reclaiming the top spot for net migration gains, with Southern states like Florida and North Carolina dominating the leaderboard. While Colorado squeaked into the top half at 23rd place with a modest net gain—up from a dismal 40th in 2024—this masks a deeper crisis. Despite the slight uptick in U-Haul data, broader migration studies from United Van Lines and others reveal Colorado as a top outbound state, hemorrhaging middle-class families due to skyrocketing costs and failed policies. This right-leaning analysis zeros in on the root causes: progressive overreach that's turning the Centennial State into a cautionary tale of economic and social decay.
The X post by @logiclives criticizes Denver Public Schools for issuing nearly $1 billion in Certificates of Participation (COPs), with $850 million in principal outstanding, to fund projects without voter approval. This tactic, also used by the state government, circumvents Colorado's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) by treating the obligations as leases rather than debt, leaving Denver taxpayers on the hook for about $2,000 per person. The post warns that Democrats are exploiting this loophole to enable unchecked spending and urges resistance to any efforts to weaken TABOR.
Colorado families and businesses are facing an unprecedented squeeze from skyrocketing taxes, fees, and external pressures like federal tariffs. While lawmakers tout programs like free school meals and child care subsidies, the reality is a massive shift of burdens onto taxpayers—through TABOR loopholes, voter-approved hikes on high earners, and new local sales taxes. Denver households now shell out over $51,000 annually in taxes and fees, up nearly 50% in recent years, far outpacing income growth. Add in Trump's tariffs driving up costs, and it's clear: Colorado's government is growing faster than its people can afford.
The Denver Post article, published on May 15, 2025, reports that House Republicans have proposed a bill cutting federal Medicaid spending by at least $880 billion over the next decade to help extend President Trump's tax cuts. For Colorado, this could mean billions in lost funding, potentially leading to a state budget shortfall and up to 108,000 residents losing coverage, mainly due to new work requirements and reduced federal matching funds. Critics, including Democrats like Rep. Diana DeGette and Gov. Jared Polis, argue the cuts prioritize tax breaks for the wealthy over health care access, risking higher costs and uncompensated care for providers. Republicans, such as Rep. Gabe Evans, counter that the plan targets fraud and waste while ensuring Medicaid's sustainability for vulnerable populations, with spending still projected to rise annually. The bill has advanced through committee but faces uncertain passage in Congress, and Colorado officials are preparing potential responses, including a special legislative session.
In a segment on Colorado Point of View (a weekly political analysis show on FOX31 Denver and CW2), conservative analyst Michael Fields highlights how Colorado Democrats, despite inheriting a massive $3.6 billion budget surplus, overspent dramatically and are now openly discussing the need to raise taxes on residents. Fields criticizes this as fiscal irresponsibility, pointing to unchecked government spending under one-party Democratic control.
In this interview clip, Colorado Governor Jared Polis (a Democrat) discusses the tangible economic fallout from escalating U.S. tariffs on imported goods. He argues that Coloradans are feeling the pinch more acutely now than a year prior, with higher costs for everyday items like electronics, clothing, and building materials rippling through the supply chain. Polis highlights Colorado's reliance on global trade—especially in tech, agriculture, and manufacturing—and warns that these policies exacerbate inflation, hurt small businesses, and stifle job growth without delivering promised protections for domestic industries. The segment underscores a broader critique of protectionist trade strategies, framing them as a self-inflicted wound on American consumers.
This report from the Common Sense Institute warns that Colorado's state legislature is drowning in a sea of excessive laws and ballot measures, passing a record 527 bills in 2024 alone—a 33% spike over pre-2019 norms and the third-highest growth nationally since 2012. Bills are not just more numerous but 51% more complex, doubling in word count from earlier years, often spawning from mandates like HB19-1261's aggressive emissions targets. Meanwhile, citizen-initiated ballot questions have quadrupled to 16 in the latest cycle, fueling a vicious cycle of policy overload. Amid tepid population growth (net domestic migration down to 7,000 in 2023 from 57,000 in 2015) and soaring living costs, this frenzy correlates with drops in key metrics: education, health, housing, infrastructure, public safety, and state budgeting. The result? Heavier taxes, fees, and red tape strangling businesses and free enterprise, eroding Colorado's once-golden appeal. The fix? Slow down, deliberate more, and prioritize data over hasty activism.
In a unanimous vote, the Colorado Title Board on December 3, 2025, greenlit Ballot Measure No. 181 for the 2026 ballot, proposing to scrap the state's flat 4.41% income tax for a graduated system with a dozen brackets starting in 2027. Backed by the left-leaning Bell Policy Center and allies like the Colorado Fiscal Institute, the overhaul promises minor cuts (a few hundred dollars yearly) for earners under $500,000 while slamming high-income individuals and businesses—especially those over $10 million—with hikes of hundreds of thousands annually. A revised fiscal estimate from the Legislative Council staff ballooned the projected revenue grab from $2.3 billion to a whopping $4.1 billion yearly, earmarked for teacher raises, plugging Medicaid shortfalls amid federal cuts, and funding childcare/workforce programs, with an audit mandate for excess funds. Proponents hail it as a fix for a $4.1 billion K-12 funding gap and looming $1-2 billion Medicaid hits, but critics like Advance Colorado vow appeals by December 17, blasting it as a TABOR-busting violation of the single-subject rule that mixes tax hikes with spending schemes, risking voter confusion and economic flight.
A viral X post from @FreeStateColor1 blasts Democratic Gov. Jared Polis for signing Senate Bill 24-182 in 2024, which took effect in April 2025 and dramatically eased driver's license access for undocumented immigrants in Colorado. The law eliminates the two-year residency requirement, accepts expired foreign IDs (up to 10 years old), and drops mandates for income tax returns, Social Security numbers, or ITINs—sparking outrage amid skyrocketing auto insurance rates, now among the nation's highest. The post quotes Polis's own announcement of a plan to combat high premiums through better road safety and anti-theft measures, sarcastically linking it to the policy's influx of unlicensed drivers. Replies echo the fury, with users blaming the bill for rising costs, comparing it to California's insurance crisis, and calling for Republican votes to reverse the "nonsense." Proponents argue it boosts road safety by getting more drivers insured and legal, but critics see it as a magnet for illegal immigration that burdens taxpayers and hikes premiums for law-abiding citizens.
The Bell Policy Center, a left-leaning think tank, has resubmitted a proposal (Ballot No. 181) to the Colorado Secretary of State's Title Board for review on December 2, 2025, aiming to overhaul the state's flat 4.41% income tax into a progressive system with a dozen brackets for the 2026 ballot. Under the plan, earners below $500,000 would get minor cuts (a few hundred bucks yearly), while ultra-high earners ($10M+) face massive hikes—potentially hundreds of thousands more annually for individuals and businesses—projecting $2.3 billion in extra revenue to boost teacher pay, offset Medicaid shortfalls, and fund childcare/workforce programs. This follows October rejections of two similar measures for violating the single-subject rule in the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), with tweaks to sidestep that hurdle while preserving core uniform-rate language. Proponents tout it as inequality-busting relief for the middle class; critics decry it as a wealth flight accelerator that guts TABOR protections and balloons government bloat.
A viral YouTube video highlights the exodus of affluent residents from 10 iconic Colorado mountain towns like Aspen, Vail, and Telluride, blaming skyrocketing taxes imposed by Democratic lawmakers on high earners. As property and income taxes surge to fund expansive government programs, wealthy homeowners—who fuel local economies through tourism, real estate, and business investments—are packing up for lower-tax havens like Wyoming and Montana. The result? Ghost-town vibes in luxury enclaves, shrinking tax bases, and a stark warning about the perils of progressive overreach in the Rockies.
In a blatant end-run around Colorado's taxpayer protections under TABOR (Taxpayer's Bill of Rights), Denver officials are slapping a new "trash fee" on residents—effectively a tax hike in disguise—to fund garbage collection without voter approval. The city claims it's just a "fee" to separate it from property taxes, allowing them to redirect existing tax dollars to other pet projects. This move, detailed in a CBS News report, affects hundreds of thousands of households and exemplifies the creative accounting politicians use to extract more money from hardworking families without accountability. Critics, including conservative voices on X, slam it as government theft, with replies highlighting similar dodges like bag fees and gas surcharges that erode personal financial freedom.
In the sweltering heat of August 2025, Colorado's lawmakers convened for an extraordinary special session from August 21 to 26, scrambling to patch a gaping $783 million state budget shortfall triggered by a $1.2 billion plunge in income tax revenue. Blame the federal "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" for capping state-and-local tax deductions and gutting corporate incentives, but let's be real: years of unchecked Democratic spending on bloated programs left the Centennial State woefully unprepared. Over six frantic days, the Democrat-controlled legislature rammed through 11 bills, scraping together about $253 million in new corporate taxes and gimmicks like selling discounted tax credits, while greenlighting $103 million in painful cuts to Medicaid, affordable housing, and higher education. They also kicked the can down the road on Colorado's pioneering—but disastrously overreaching—AI regulations, delaying enforcement until June 30, 2026, after tech firms and small businesses begged for mercy from the regulatory nightmare. Tweaks to ballot measures aimed to shield school meals and cap skyrocketing health insurance premiums, but the session ended without fully closing the deficit—leaving Governor Polis to wield the ax on even more essential services. It's a classic tale of fiscal irresponsibility: short-term bandages on a hemorrhaging budget, with taxpayers footing the bill for Sacramento-style progressivism in the Rockies.
In this Complete Colorado op-ed, author Eli Bremer blasts the passage of Propositions LL and MM in Colorado's November 2025 election, claiming voters were fed a pack of lies to pass them. Sold as a lifeline for the Healthy School Meals for All (HSMA) program—framed as the only way to keep free lunches flowing for needy kids—the props were rendered obsolete by federal changes in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). Despite no real budget shortfall (expenses stayed within $128.4 million for FY 2024-25), the legislature kept the measures alive, quietly amending Prop MM to siphon over 50% of its new tax revenue from wealthy Coloradans toward SNAP benefits instead of school meals. Prop LL de-TABORed HSMA funding, unlocking a $95 million annual windfall for progressive pet projects. Bremer argues this was a transparent scam to erode TABOR protections and hike taxes under false pretenses, with ballot language burying the SNAP diversion in fine print.
Imagine opening your mailbox in early 2026 and finding a property tax bill that’s hundreds—or even thousands—of dollars higher than last year… even though your home’s value barely budged. That stomach-drop moment isn’t bad luck. It isn’t inflation. It isn’t “unavoidable.” It’s the direct result of a slick political bait-and-switch you and your neighbors fell for back in 2020, when Colorado voters were scared into repealing the Gallagher Amendment—the one constitutional guardrail that had kept residential property taxes among the lowest in America for almost four decades. They called it a “temporary technical fix” to “save rural schools” during COVID. They promised no one’s taxes would go up right away. 57% of us believed them. Five years later, the temporary band-aids are ripping tempest off, and the bill for that trust is coming due—straight to your wallet. This is the story of how Colorado surrendered its best taxpayer protection… and why you’re about to pay the price.
Colorado property taxes are poised to increase for most homeowners in 2026, even if home values stay flat, as temporary relief measures from 2024—such as reduced assessment rates and a $55,000 taxable value subtraction for primary residences—phase out. This stems from a 2023 bipartisan legislative deal and subsequent laws (including Senate Bill 24-233 and House Bill 24-1001) that introduced a split-rate structure for school districts and local governments. For 2026, the residential assessment rate for local government levies rises to around 6.8%, though offset somewhat by a new deduction of up to 10% of a home's value (capped at $70,000). In areas like Summit County mountain resorts, a $1 million home might see taxes hover around $3,400–$3,500 depending on local mill levies. Overall, Colorado still has one of the nation's lowest effective residential property tax rates (0.49% vs. the U.S. average of 0.90%), but the end of short-term caps means higher permanent costs ahead after post-pandemic adjustments and the 2020 repeal of the Gallagher Amendment.
In a critical investigative piece published on November 14, 2025, by the Rocky Mountain Voice, author Cory Gaines uncovers a pattern of Medicaid expansions under Colorado Governor Jared Polis that directly contradicts his recent complaints about the program's skyrocketing costs. Using Colorado's legislative bill search tool, the article identifies over a dozen bills signed by Polis since 2019 that broadened eligibility, added benefits, and reallocated federal funds—such as allowing seniors and the disabled to buy into coverage (2020), funding equine therapy (2022), covering homemaker services with enhanced federal matching (SB23-289 in 2023), and studying reimbursements for social needs like housing and utilities (2024). These actions have helped grow Medicaid to serve 1.2 million Coloradans, fueling budget pressures. Yet, in a recent press conference, Polis blamed "benefits that have been added in recent years" as unsustainable, suggesting cuts to services rather than addressing enrollment. The piece accuses Polis of hypocrisy for passively framing expansions as someone else's doing while personally approving them, urging taxpayers to demand accountability for this self-inflicted fiscal strain.
Denver's $1 billion 'Vibrant Denver Bond' campaign, led by city Democrats, faces an ethics complaint alleging that the campaign accepted prohibited donations from arts organizations funded by public tax money while actively urging a YES vote. The complaint raises concerns about the improper use of taxpayer funds to influence public ballot measures.
In a City Journal article, author Steven Malanga argues that Colorado, Washington, and Oregon—once booming magnets for domestic migrants—are now exhibiting early signs of decline mirroring California's long-running dysfunction, driven by a shift to one-party Democratic rule and the adoption of progressive policies on energy, housing, taxes, and regulation. Key indicators include reversing migration trends (e.g., Colorado's net domestic gains plummeting from 390,000 in 2010-2020 to just 24,000 since 2020), lagging job growth below national averages, skyrocketing housing costs (e.g., Portland and Seattle's price-to-income ratios exceeding 6:1), and urban decay from crime and homelessness, as seen in Portland's post-2020 riots slashing police forces and Denver's high vacancy rates amid lax enforcement. While not yet as severe as California's "mirage," these states face budget shortfalls (e.g., Washington's $6-12 billion gap) and business flight, contrasting with thriving red states like Texas and Florida; Malanga warns that without policy reversals, the "California dream" will become a full nightmare.
In a hilarious online showdown, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis just handed Colorado’s Jared Polis a reality check over his rosy claims about marijuana tax revenue. Polis bragged about Colorado raking in $3 billion since 2014 to fund roads, schools, and rec centers, but DeSantis fired back with a meme-worthy jab, pointing to a 2025 headline ranking Colorado’s roads a dismal 43rd nationally. With a quip about cutting over $7 billion in taxes in half the time, DeSantis exposed the pothole-ridden truth behind Polis’ pot promises. The X thread erupted with Coloradans piling on, mocking Polis’ tone-deaf leadership and the state’s crumbling infrastructure—proving the joke’s on Colorado’s governor.
Colorado homeowners will face higher property taxes in 2026 due to the expiration of temporary pandemic-era relief measures. The state has set permanent residential assessment rates at 7.05% for school districts and 6.25% for local governments starting in 2025 — rates that will appear on 2026 tax bills. While these are lower than pre-2021 levels under the old Gallagher Amendment, they’re still significantly higher than the 6.7% temporary rate and $55,000 value subtraction used in 2024. A new 10% value subtraction (up to $70,000) under House Bill 24-1001 offers limited relief, but most homeowners will still see increases — even if home values don’t rise. The changes stem from a 2023 bipartisan deal meant to stabilize long-term tax policy, but critics argue it fails to shield middle-class families from mounting costs.
Approved by Colorado voters on November 4, 2025, with 57% support (vs. 43% opposition) when 57% of ballots were counted, Proposition MM imposes a targeted tax hike on households earning $300,000+ in federal adjusted gross income by capping their state income tax deductions, projected to raise ~$100-150 million annually to fully fund universal free breakfast and lunch for all public school students (expanding the 2022 Prop FF program), boost pay for school meal staff, prioritize local food sourcing, and cover new state costs (~$50M/year) for administering federal SNAP/food stamps amid stricter Trump-era work requirements. Affecting ~6% of tax filers (average extra $327 for singles, $574 for joint filers), the measure—referred by Democrats after inflation eroded prior funding—passed without organized opposition, backed by a $740K campaign from nonprofits like Hunger Free Colorado, billionaire Pat Stryker, and the Rose Community Foundation; it passed alongside Prop LL (local food bonds), ensuring no rollbacks to means-tested meals starting 2026, though critics decry it as another self-inflicted burden on high earners amid TABOR constraints.
Colorado taxpayers are footing a $170M bill for free healthcare to illegals while the federal shutdown starves reimbursements—your premiums skyrocket as ERs overflow with non-citizens. Click to see the brutal audit exposing the scam.
Signed into law on August 28, 2025, HB 25B-1002 expands Colorado’s corporate “tax haven” blacklist by adding five new jurisdictions—Hong Kong, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, and Singapore—effective for tax years starting January 1, 2026, while simultaneously decoupling from the federal Foreign-Derived Deduction Eligible Income (FDDEI) deduction (formerly FDII) created in the 2017 TCJA and sweetened in 2025 federal law. This forces multinational C-corporations to add back the entire federal deduction to their Colorado taxable income, effectively raising their state tax bill by an estimated $35–40 million annually. Democrats insist the revenue gain is “de minimis” and “incidental” to the noble goals of “tax fairness” and “simplicity,” citing a 2018 Colorado Supreme Court ruling to dodge TABOR voter-approval requirements, while conveniently ignoring that this is yet another backdoor tax hike on companies doing business overseas.
Signed into law in 2025, Senate Bill 25-317 is a massive one-time raid on dozens of obscure state cash funds, forcibly transferring over $1.3 billion in interest, income, and principal—earned from deposits and investments in funds like the Legislative Department Cash Fund ($677 million), Workers' Compensation Cash Fund ($730 million), Subsequent Injury Fund ($291 million), Major Medical Insurance Fund ($265 million), Just Transition Cash Fund ($186 million), and Correctional Treatment Cash Fund (amount not specified)—directly into the General Fund by June 30, 2025. The bill repeals surplus-language triggers that previously protected these funds, eliminates automatic reversions, and mandates the State Treasurer to sweep every penny of unspent interest and investment earnings, all while exempting the moves from TABOR refund requirements by framing them as "internal transfers" rather than new revenue. Effective immediately for most provisions and lasting through FY 2024-25 (with some repeals kicking in July 2026), this accounting gimmick plugs the state's budget hole caused by federal tax conformity without raising taxes or cutting spending—pure fiscal sleight-of-hand that drains dedicated pots meant for workers' comp, injury claims, coal-transition communities, and inmate treatment programs.
Enacted during the August 2025 special session, HB 25B-1003 repeals the longstanding 1% reduced insurance premium tax rate for companies maintaining a home office or regional home office in Colorado, bumping them up to the standard 2% rate starting January 1, 2026, while fully eliminating the incentive by December 31, 2026. This 66-year-old tax break was designed to lure insurers to base operations and jobs in the state, but Democrats axed it anyway to grab an extra $44 million annually—framed as "streamlining" statutes and closing a "loophole"—despite audits showing some companies already cut jobs while claiming the credit. The revenue patches the federal tax conformity budget hole, but the move directly hikes costs for insurers, who will inevitably pass the tab onto policyholders through even higher auto, home, and health premiums in a state where rates have already skyrocketed over 40% in the last decade
Colorado House Bill 25B-1004 allows the Colorado Department of the Treasury to issue and sell up to $125 million in face-value state tax credits (combining insurance premium tax credits and corporate income tax credits) during fiscal year 2025-26, provided they generate at least $100 million in sale proceeds; credits must be sold at no less than 80% of face value, prioritized for insurers with Colorado operations when applicable, and can be used to offset Colorado tax liabilities with carry-forwards permitted, but may not be claimed for tax years beginning after December 31, 2033.
Signed into law during the August 2025 special session, HB 25B-1001 permanently eliminates Colorado’s state-level Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction for pass-through entities (LLCs, S-corps, partnerships, sole proprietors) earning over certain thresholds, adding back the federal 20% QBI break to taxable income. What was supposed to be a phased-in tax cut for small and medium-sized businesses—promised when Colorado conformed to the 2017 TCJA—has now been retroactively turned into a $46 million annual tax increase starting in tax year 2025. The revenue helps plug a budget hole created by federal tax conformity, but instead of raising rates (which would trigger TABOR voter approval), Democrats simply yanked a deduction businesses were already counting on, proving once again that “temporary” tax relief in Colorado has the lifespan of a fruit fly when the state needs cash.