2022 Colorado Fiscal Institute Ballot Guide

In Colorado, voters have a lot of power when it comes to deciding public policy. Since 1880, Coloradans have considered nearly 500 citizen-initiated and legislatively referred ballot measures. Additionally, since the passage of TABOR, only Colorado voters can decide tax and debt increases through ballot elections. This year is no different: Colorado voters will decide on 11 statewide ballot measures in 2022.

Because CFI believes strongly in voters having all the information they need to decide on these important issues that greatly affect our lives, our communities, and the future of our state, we are sharing our recommendations on some of the measures. CFI staff used an equity-focused analysis to develop this guide. Please share this resource with your friends, family, and personal networks so they too can make informed decisions about these very important ballot issues.

Proposition 121 – Income Tax Reduction

CFI Position: Vote NO

Our Take

We at CFI believe in targeted tax cuts for working people that give them the tools they need to build a good life for themselves and their families. We have a long history of supporting policies like the Child Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit, and other targeted tax policies that reduce people’s tax liabilities.

Conversely, we have long opposed tax cuts that aren’t targeted, and which give most of the tax savings to the wealthiest people and richest corporations. That’s especially important because income taxes fund two-thirds of Colorado’s General Fund, the vast majority of which pays for public K-12 and higher education, health care, human services, and the state’s corrections system.

With tax cuts, we as voters must always ask ourselves whether the trade-off between more money in people’s pockets and less for important public services is worth it. In the case of Proposition 121, it’s not.

Our Recommendation

Proposition 121 is unfair, inequitable, and will give the small handful of Coloradans who make over $500,000 a year (just 1.2% of tax filers) more money in reduced taxes than the more than the two-thirds of Coloradans who make $75,000 or less. Those top 1% of Coloradans also happen to be nearly 99% white, while Coloradans who earn less than $75,000 are disproportionately Coloradans of color. This will all come at the cost of public services like education and health care that we all benefit from in one way or another.

Finally, this year in particular, an across-the-board tax cut like Proposition 121 is especially unfair. That’s because of very high TABOR rebates expected in 2023. If Proposition 121 passes, Coloradans who earn less than $91,000 a year, over 1 million people, will actually get less money in their pockets, because even the only slightly progressive Six-Tier Sales Tax Rebate mechanism is still fairer than Proposition 121.

Voters should reject it, and also demand legislators pass fairer TABOR rebate mechanisms, similar to the temporary mechanism they created in 2022 that resulted in $750 checks for every Colorado tax filer.

Proposition FF – Health School Meals for All

CFI Position: Vote YES

Our Take

On the opposite end of the spectrum from Proposition 121 comes a tax measure that is fair, equitable, and will boost the physical and economic health of our communities.

When many schools were closed during the pandemic, school nutrition programs continued to serve an important role as schools distributed thousands of meals to students thanks to a federally funded free school meal program. That program helped make sure all kids got school meals during the height of the pandemic.

Our Recommendation

Proposition FF will cap the amount of money people who make over $300,000 can deduct from their state income taxes. This will result in a net tax increase for them, and will fund a thoughtful approach to locally sourced, healthy school meals for all students in Colorado public schools. (We previously looked at how Proposition FF could actually shift the food economy around school meals, and why some local farmers are lining up to support it.)

Proposition FF shows how just a small change in tax policy can result in life-changing policies for people. The measure would make things like the shame experienced by many students who receive free lunches, unhealthily sourced processed school lunches, and school lunch debt a thing of the past. We encourage Coloradans to vote yes.

Proposition GG – Amount of Tax Owed Tables for Income Tax Initiatives

CFI Position: Vote YES

Our Take

Proposition GG is a measure that asks the question: What if Coloradans actually got the full story when it comes to proposed income tax cuts and increases on the ballot? 

Currently, ballot measures like Proposition 121 are not required to tell voters exactly how much money they would save on a proposed tax cut. Voters also don’t receive much in the way of information about whether they would be required to pay under a proposed tax increase. If voters approve Proposition GG, they’ll start getting this info on initiative petitions and on their ballots in 2023.

Our Recommendation

CFI’s Esther Turcios and Caitlin Schneider recently published an opinion piece in the Colorado Times Recorder about why Proposition GG is connected to Proposition 121 and Proposition FF, and why voters deserve to have the full story when it comes to income tax ballot measures.

We strongly encourage Coloradans to vote yes on GG.

Proposition 123 – Dedicate Income Tax Revenue to Affordable Housing

CFI Position: Vote Yes, But…

Our Take

Proposition 123 will dedicate 1/10 of 1% of annual income tax revenue to affordable housing. It would be one of the biggest investments of public money in affordable housing in the state’s history, and it comes at a time when housing is rapidly making Colorado a place where working and middle class families are simply unable to afford to live in the neighborhoods they grew up in, the communities of their choosing, or where they work. 

With the measure directing well over $400 million in the first two years alone, it will be a great start for a state that badly needs affordable housing solutions immediately. Those investments are long overdue, and will be an important first step toward addressing our housing crisis. It’s also a smart use of TABOR refund money. Voters know addressing housing would be well worth whatever small reduction they’ll see in their rebates.

As important as the investments in housing are, this fiscal policy approach isn’t going to solve the problem: TABOR is preventing us from actually making the sustainable investments needed to solve the housing crisis. A tax system that asks the wealthiest people and richest corporations to pay a lower share of their income in taxes than working and middle-class families of all races and ethnicities is incapable of fixing the problem.

Minimum wage workers need to work 75 hours a week in order to afford an average modest one-bedroom apartment. Colorado is the ninth-least affordable state in the country, and the state is a staggering 500,000 housing units short of where it should be. Housing is putting an incredible amount of pressure on families, it’s driving inflation, and unaffordable housing is a massive barrier to closing the racial wealth gap.

Our Recommendation

Because Prop 123 has no new sustainable funding source, in times when there are no TABOR rebates, it will either come at a cost to other important public priorities, or simply won’t be funded at all. We can do better. 

A lot of this has to do with the ballot measure process. While the legislative process is often exclusionary, there is more opportunity for Coloradans to weigh in and influence policies on their journey from bill to law. On the other hand, ballot measures are titled by a handful of people, have limited opportunities for public comment, and once petitions are approved nearly anyone with enough money can get what they want on the ballot.

This process is often exclusionary of communities of color, people who earn low incomes, people with disabilities, and other Coloradans. It’s possible with a more inclusive process, like the legislative process, policies could have been included that would actually make housing more affordable: ending the ban on rent control, forbidding exclusionary zoning, and other long-time goals of housing advocates. Ultimately we need a sound funding measure to tackle this growing challenge.

So with Proposition 123, it’s a yes… but. Vote yes… but we need to make sure Colorado’s elected leaders take steps to address some of its flaws. Real affordable housing solutions need to be a focus moving forward.

Amendment E – Extend Homestead Tax Exemption to Gold Star Spouses

CFI Position: Vote YES

Our Take

Amendment E is a simple way to make sure we are living up to the values we put in our constitution. In 2000, Coloradans voted to create a property tax exemption for older homeowners who have lived in their home for more than 10 years. In 2006, voters extended that exemption to veterans with disabilities. Amendment E will fix a gap in this law by allowing spouses of service members who died as a result of their duty to receive the exemption too.

CFI supports Amendment E because we believe it’s a matter of horizontal equity. People who are in similar circumstances should be treated the same under the law. 

That is not to say the Homestead Property Tax Exemption is itself an equitable policy. In fact, it is in bad need of reform. A 2019 report by CFI’s Chris Stiffler found about 50% of older Coloradans don’t qualify for the exemption, the exemption disproportionately benefits white homeowners over homeowners of other races, and those who qualify for the exemption are less likely to be experiencing poverty than Colorado homeowners as a whole.

Our Recommendation

Amendment E will not fix all the issues with the exemption, but by extending it to Gold Star spouses, it will fix one of them. We encourage Coloradans to vote yes on Amendment E.

Thank You For Being An Informed Voter

Being an informed voter is so important. That’s why CFI is proud to be a part of Count Me In, a nonpartisan collaborative effort among Colorado nonprofits to educate voters on ballot measures. Count Me In explains what each measure is, what it would do, and gives Coloradans the pro and con arguments for each. To read up on all 11 statewide measures, check out Count Me In’s 2022 Ballot Measure Guide and FAQ.