DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado voters already casting their ballots ahead of the Nov. 7 election.
One issue is taking up half of voters’ blue ballot information booklet, and it’s been confusing voters for months. Proposition HH aims to limit how much property taxes will go up statewide, but it would also make changes to what the state does with excess taxpayer dollars.
Normally, you get that money back in a refund under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, but Prop HH aims to keep some of that surplus to fund local governments because of the decrease in expected property taxes should the measure pass.
A big part of the issue behind Prop HH: No one knows for sure how much money you could lose or save, as it hinges on how Colorado’s economy is doing over the next decade. The nonpartisan Legislative Council did publish a tool to help estimate property taxes with or without the measure, but it only looks at the next two years.
Colorado Senate President Steve Fenberg, along with Michael Fields of Advance Colorado, weighed in on the issue this week on “Colorado Point of View.”
The cases for and against Prop HH
Fields, who was part of a lawsuit against the state over Prop HH, urges voters to “look at the whole picture, educate yourself about this, read the blue book, use those calculators, really dig into why we are where we are and, ultimately, look at the big picture. Not only what does it mean this year or next year, what does it mean 8, 10, 15 years down the road? Because these tax policies have long-term impacts.”
Fenberg asked voters: “Do you want to pay a 40% increase in your property taxes next year? Because if you vote no on HH, that’s what is going to happen. You will have higher property taxes if (Prop) HH goes down. If it passes, you will get relief. On average, people will get five or six hundred dollars off of their tax bill than what it would be otherwise.”
Watch the full conversation about Prop HH on “Colorado Point of View” this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and again Sunday at 7:30 a.m. on Colorado’s Very Own Channel 2.
