Proposition HH Ballot Measure

Why is this measure on the ballot?

This measure requires voter approval under TABOR since it would increase state revenue.

In Colorado, a legislatively referred state statute must be passed by a simple majority vote in each chamber of the state legislature. Legislatively referred measures do not need to be signed by the governor. Due to the Colorado TABOR, statewide voter approval is required to enact any legislation to increase government revenue at a faster rate than the combined rate of population increase and inflation. To read about the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, click here.

The measure was introduced as Senate Bill 23-303 on May 1, 2023. After amendments, on May 8, 2023, the measure was passed in the House by a vote of 44-2 with three members absent and in the Senate by a vote of 23-12. The measure was passed along partisan lines with Democratic members in favor and Republican members opposed. Governor Jared Polis (D) signed the bill on May 24, 2023.^[1]

Arguments

Senate President Steve Fenberg (D): “That is the revenue that goes to support fire districts, to support libraries, to support schools. And that’s a core part of making sure that we do this responsibly, rather than just saying property taxes are too damn high, so let’s cut them and not think about the impact that has downstream to our local services.”
Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D): “Because of the very strong economy and very strong TABOR surplus, we are able to do both, we are able to not jeopardize or cut funding for our schools and provide important property tax relief today.”
Kim Monson president of the Colorado Union of Taxpayers: “Coloradans are facing a historic increase in residential property values which will result in significantly higher property taxes for homeowners and businesses. Proposition HH purports to provide property tax relief. It is really a bait and switch at the expense of Coloradans’ TABOR refunds. Forever. Renters, in particular, lose out because their “refunds” will be used for short term and small amounts of property tax relief for others. By allowing the state to retain additional revenue (our TABOR refunds), it hurts the everyday, hardworking people of Colorado because the state keeps more of our money and we have less of our money. Prop HH is a hastily proposed, convoluted, 48-page measure that further complicates our property taxes. It is time for REAL property tax simplification and reform for Coloradans.”
Sage Naumann, vice president of communications of 76 Group and former spokesman for the Colorado Senate Republicans: “[Proposition HH is] a ‘property tax reduction’ of 0.06% in exchange for a confusing modification to the TABOR refund mechanism. Adding 1% to the TABOR cap each year may not seem like a big deal, but compounding year over year means within just a few years, TABOR refunds could be eliminated forever. It was completely unnecessary for the legislature to even broach the subject of TABOR refunds, but they simply couldn’t help themselves.”
State Rep. Mike Lynch: “We’ve seen this movie before, Governor Polis and his friends in the Democrat-controlled Legislature have looked to raid TABOR to solve economic problems they’ve usually created. In 2019, the governor and Democratic lawmakers ran Proposition CC that would have allowed the state to keep citizens’ TABOR refunds for schools, and it was rejected by seven percentage points. Hopefully, Coloradans will see through this new effort to extort their constitutionally guaranteed TABOR refunds.”
Mesa County Board of Commissioners: “Borrowing $20 from taxpayers and then giving back $10 is not the intent of TABOR. It is alarming that local governments were not consulted on the bill or Prop HH. We believe strongly in local solutions that are designed for local problems. However, under the guise of lowering property tax, this is an underhanded and confusing attempt to work around TABOR. In addition, the proposition itself violates the single subject rule established to protect voters in Colorado.”
Abe Laydon, Douglas County Commissioner Chair: “Anyway you slice it, SB23-303 and Proposition HH do not prevent residential property owners in Douglas County from experiencing what will be the largest property tax increase in state history.”
Michael Fields, president of Advance Colorado Institute: “The repeal of the Gallagher Amendment was supposed to make things better, but I opposed it because it would inevitably lead to huge increases in property taxes for Colorado families. That is exactly what we are seeing across the state. The legislature created this problem. They said they would come up with a solution and they didn’t. Now, the governor and legislature want us to give up our TABOR tax refunds for a tiny bit of property tax relief. It’s another bad idea.”

Prop HH Online resources:

Senate Bill 303: https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb23-303
Common Sense Institute: https://commonsenseinstituteco.org/prop-hh/
Ballotpedia: https://ballotpedia.org/Colorado_Proposition_HH,_Property_Tax_Changes_and_Revenue_Change_Measure_(2023)
The Gazette: https://gazette.com/opinion/perspective-prop-hh-the-ugly-truth/article_a361a3d4-2c9d-11ee-8b7e-d7326758bae1.html
Complete Colorado: https://pagetwo.completecolorado.com/2023/08/15/menten-honest-voter-guide-needed-to-counter-proposition-hh-deception/
Colorado Blue Book: https://leg.colorado.gov/content/initiatives/initiatives-blue-book-overview/ballot-information-booklet-blue-book
Denver Post: https://www.denverpost.com/2023/07/28/proposition-hh-tabor-property-taxes-kafer/
Colorado Public Radio: https://www.cpr.org/2023/07/13/prop-hh-tabor-property-taxes-school-funding/
Colorado Secretary of State: https://www.coloradosos.gov/pubs/elections/Initiatives/ballot/contacts/2023.html
Fiscal Note: https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2023A/bills/fn/2023a_sb303_r5.pdf

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Proposition HH Ballot Measure

What would this measure do?

Why is this measure on the ballot?

Arguments

Prop HH Online resources: