Will Colorado Repeat California’s Property Tax Mistake?
In March 2022, several ballot measure titles were filed that would, in various ways, limit or cap property tax
revenues collected by local districts in Colorado. Over forty years ago, California attempted a similar
experiment to ease the increasing property taxes of a state growing exponentially. Its own ballot measure,
Proposition 13, which capped property values for tax purposes and property tax rates, was not targeted and
the proponents had no plan to pay for it.
As a result, the measure cut the local share of school funding in half, and sales tax revenue as a share of local revenue almost doubled. While older, longer-term homeowners benefitted massively, new homeowners and young families saw little change in their property tax bills. And without adequate funding, a shifting and smaller tax base led to skyrocketing student-to-teacher ratios and dramatic cuts in per-pupil funding.
Ultimately, this type of property tax limitation would take away more money from our underfunded K-12 schools and cause substantial economic distress in the ever-growing state of Colorado.
Highlights:
- Proposing this property tax limitation in Colorado will reduce local government revenues by almost $2.5 billion annually and cost the state over $650 million a year in backfill dollars causing detrimental blows to our economy.
- California saw Proposition 13 catalyze a major decrease in tax deduction claims that lead to a major increase in the state’s internal and federal tax bill furthering economic instability.
- If this proposition passes, we would see a drastic decrease in funding for our K-12 schools that are already extraordinarily underfunded.
- Like California, Colorado would likely see an even greater increase in sales tax which would negatively affect the most financially vulnerable in our state.
Click here to download the full brief.
