Counting the Hidden Costs of Colorado’s Tax Code

TABOR might promise a government on a diet and fatter refund checks, but Colorado’s wallet feels the pinch. It’s one of the tightest tax laws in the country, quietly deciding what our state can and can’t afford. If this makes you scratch your head or mutter, “Wait, that’s fishy…” you’re in good company.

June 20, 2025

Did you know that since TABOR passed in 1992…

…Colorado families have been robbed of what they need to survive and thrive, despite the promise that it would protect taxpayers.

TABOR is sold as a taxpayer protection, but in reality, it robs Colorado families of what they need to survive and thrive. Because of TABOR’s revenue limits and restrictions, the state cannot invest in schools, health care, housing, or transit, even when voters say it should. It is a system that protects the wealthy and burdens working families, especially Black Coloradans, who are more likely to be in tax brackets that pay a higher share of income in taxes. From sales taxes that hit essential goods to a flat income tax that benefits the rich, Colorado’s tax code is anything but fair, and TABOR locks it into place.

TABOR is not just unfair today. It is part of a long legacy of policies designed to block public investment and suppress community power. Much like post-Reconstruction tax codes that slashed revenue to sabotage Black-led institutions, TABOR calcifies inequality by making it nearly impossible to fund the future Coloradans deserve. The constitution bans tools like a graduated income tax, and without reform, the state will remain stuck in a cycle of underfunding, exclusion, and austerity.

This week, Coloradans reflected on Juneteenth and what true liberation requires. Freedom without investment is not freedom at all. It is time to name TABOR for what it is, a con, and fight for a future where Colorado works for everyone.

Read more about the racist roots of tax policies in the blog post, “From Slavery to Sales Tax: The Fiscal War on Black America,” guest-written with Soul 2 Soul Sisters, a grassroots racial justice nonprofit organization working for Black liberation and joy in Colorado.