Lawmakers Eye Millions in New Taxes in Wake of Supreme Court Ruling
CompleteColorado.com has learned that Colorado lawmakers are looking at millions of dollars in new tax increases thanks to the recent state Supreme Court “mill levy” ruling on the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR).
From the analysis section of the Supreme Court ruling:
“it becomes apparent that a ‘tax policy change directly causing a net tax revenue gain to any district’ only requires advance voter approval when the gain exceeds one of the subsection (7) revenue limits.”
Today, in a Joint Budget Committee meeting, Legislative Legal Services lawyer Sharon Eubanks gave a presentation to committee members, arguing that because Referendum C has temporarily suspended “subsection (7),” then many tax credits and exemptions could be repealed without a vote of the people, increasing taxes on multiple items, and increasing revenues by up to $1.9 BILLION.
One example of a tax “credit” that could be lifted is tobacco. Traditionally, Colorado has had a “tax credit” on cigarettes. According to Eubank’s testimony today, that “credit” could be undone because of the Court’s ruling, effectively providing $20 million dollars in new revenues for the state.
Sources say the committee was presented with a list of “tax credits” that could be repealed without a vote of the people, raising between $1-2 billion in new revenue.
AUDIO CLIPS FROM EUBANK’S TESTIMONY –
FULL AUDIO OF EUBANK’S TESTIMONY BEFORE JOINT BUDGET COMMITTEE
(Article cross-posted from Complete Colorado)
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