{"id":18890,"date":"2010-10-13T21:46:40","date_gmt":"2010-10-14T03:46:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=18890"},"modified":"2010-10-13T21:46:40","modified_gmt":"2010-10-14T03:46:40","slug":"colorado-ballot-propositions-2010-the-ugly-three","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/10\/13\/colorado-ballot-propositions-2010-the-ugly-three.html","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Ballot Propositions 2010: “The Ugly Three”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

The State of Colorado has nine ballot measures this coming election. I’m going to discuss them all, but I want to start with the “Ugly Three” (as their opponents have dubbed them).<\/p>\n

It’s not surprising to find regular efforts to hold the line, or even cut back on government spending.\u00a0 But any of the trio in mind here would be crippling; taken altogether, I’d seriously consider moving. Really. And I really don’t want to move, but that would be better than waiting for Mad Max to show up …<\/p>\n

I was going to write (in fact had, half-written) a detailed analysis, but, really, it’s unnecessary. These are just bad proposals, taken singly or altogether.<\/p>\n

Amendment 60: Property Taxes<\/h3>\n

Goal: Cut property taxes to the bone and basically eliminate them as a source for state revenue.<\/em><\/p>\n

This proposal cuts in half the property tax burden that goes to schools, effectively shifting the cost over to the state’s general fund. Which, of course, doesn’t have the $1.6B necessary to take up the shortfall.<\/p>\n

Colorado has had, since 1992, a TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights) that seriously restricts how fast property taxes can rise and requires any windfall (if revenue rises faster than a base formula) to be refunded.\u00a0 Many local entities have gotten explicit voter approval to keep those excess amounts for a variety of approved purposes.\u00a0 This amendment undoes those previous votes, and forces any future “de-TABORing” to have a\u00a0 strict expiration date.<\/p>\n

It also reduces private property taxes by making publicly-owned facilities (universities, airports, golf courses) pay property taxes and reducing the local tax burden. Of course, those costs will be passed on to users\/consumers of those facilities (there goes tuition again, not to mention air fares), or they will have to seriously curtain their services and scope.<\/p>\n

Do I want lower property taxes?\u00a0 Sure, in the abstract.\u00a0 Do I think that my property taxes are being wasted on wild parties and chrome-plated lunch dispensers and silly boondoggles?\u00a0 Not that I’ve seen.<\/p>\n

Amendment 61: Limits on State and Local Government Borrowing<\/h3>\n

Goal: Prevent state and local governments from funding large projects or day-to-day operations through borrowing, short- or long-term.<\/em><\/p>\n

This amendment prevents the state from doing any <\/em>borrowing whatsoever.\u00a0 Want to build or expand a state highway?\u00a0 Sorry, Charlie — find someone who’s willing to build it privately as a toll road.\u00a0 Unemployment is up and the state unemployment fund has to borrow from the feds to assist out of work people?\u00a0 No can do, sweetheart.\u00a0 Building a prison, a wastewater plant, a building at a state college? You need to somehow (with TABOR give-back limits) save up the money and pay out of pocket.<\/p>\n

Smaller governmental entities can borrow, but only through bonds (no short-term borrowing to level cash flow; no lease to own), limited to 10 year terms (how would you like to pay your mortgage on that basis?), and only with voter approval. Local entities (cities, counties, school \/ transit \/ fire \/ water \/ sewage districts) can only borrow up to 10% of assessed real property values.<\/p>\n

Is governmental borrowing something that can be mismanaged, saddling future generations with debt?\u00a0 Certainly.\u00a0 Is the answer to simply eliminate nearly all borrowing?\u00a0 Um, no.<\/p>\n

Proposition 101: Income, Vehicle, Telecommunication Taxes and Fees<\/h3>\n

Goal: Gut state revenues other than property taxes.<\/em><\/p>\n

This proposition reduces state income tax by a quarter, eliminates all telecommunication taxes and fees except for 911 (which is capped), and reduces auto registration taxes and fees to 1911 <\/em>levels.<\/p>\n

The ostensible goal is to force “state and local governments to eliminate unnecessary spending.”\u00a0 This assumes, of course, that at least a quarter of the state’s general fund is “unnecessary spending.”\u00a0 And that there’s another $1.3B in “unnecessary spending,” currently paid for by vehicle taxes and fees, that can be just done away with (like, say road and bridge construction and maintenance), and another $350M that’s brought in on telecommunication taxes and fees.<\/p>\n

Put it all together and it spells …<\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/div>\n

The writers of the “Blue Book” — the legislative analysis of ballot measures — took the unprecedented step of not just charting out what each of these would do on its own, but what they would do in concert. This led to a huge furor from … well, the joint group pushing all three proposals.\u00a0 Um, duh<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In short, these three proposals, put together …<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Drastically cut property taxes.<\/li>\n
  2. Drastically cut income taxes and other state fees.<\/li>\n
  3. Drastically restrict governmental borrowing.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    And then people will wonder why we have 45-kid classrooms, highway bridges falling apart, fire trucks that take an hour to arrive, judges setting criminals free because of prison overcrowding, and highways filled to capacity, plus airlines deserting DIA because of landing fees (further boosting air fares), public college enrollment plummeting because of rising tuition, and, ultimately, nobody wanting to open a business in Colorado, let alone move here.<\/p>\n

    These three propositions — “the Ugly Three” — are basically out to dismantle the state and local government, for some short-term profit (and, presumably, some long-term ideological goal).\u00a0 While I’m sure that everyone will enjoy the immediate pleasure\u00a0 of somewhat lower property and\u00a0 income taxes and cheap vehicle registration, what it will do to the societal services we call come to expect as citizens of a state that isn’t, say, Mississippi, will be very, very ugly.\u00a0 And a lot of it will be damage in lost jobs and crumbling infrastructure that can’t simply be returned to “normal” by regretfully turning back on the money tap.<\/p>\n

    Coloradans, please vote NO on 60, 61, and 101<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The State of Colorado has nine ballot measures this coming election. I’m going to discuss them all, but I want to start with the “Ugly Three” (as their opponents have dubbed them). It’s not surprising to find regular efforts to hold the line, or even cut back on government spending.\u00a0 But any of the trio … Continue reading “Colorado Ballot Propositions 2010: “The Ugly Three””<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[81],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-elections-2010"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31142,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/11\/05\/the-ballot-measures-we-didnt-get-in-colorado.html","url_meta":{"origin":18890,"position":0},"title":"The ballot measures we didn't get in Colorado","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 5-Nov-12 3:32pm","format":false,"excerpt":"We have only three on the state-wide ballot -- here's a list of 20 others that didn't make it, from Personhood, to Same-Sex Marriage, to Concealed Carry, to eliminating all property taxes.\u00a0 Embedded Link Colorado 2012 ballot measures - Ballotpedia There are 19 hours left until polls open on November\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19093,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/11\/03\/colorado-election-wrap-up.html","url_meta":{"origin":18890,"position":1},"title":"Colorado election wrap-up","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 3-Nov-10 8:56am","format":false,"excerpt":"On the major state offices: John Hickenlooper (D) won handily over Tom Tancredo (ACP) and Dan Maes (R) to be the next governor of the state.\u00a0 That's ... a good thing.\u00a0 On the other hand, the GOP seems to have taken back one, if not both, houses of the state\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2010"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2010","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2010"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/coloradoflag.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/coloradoflag.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/coloradoflag.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/coloradoflag.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18932,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/10\/15\/colorado-ballot-propositions-2010-the-other-six.html","url_meta":{"origin":18890,"position":2},"title":"Colorado Ballot Propositions 2010: The Other Six","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 15-Oct-10 10:34am","format":false,"excerpt":"I covered 3 of the 9 propositions (the \"Ugly Three\") earlier this week. Here's what else is hitting the ballots, and what I think (for what it's worth): Amendment P: Regulation of Games of Chance: This moves control of bingo and raffles and the like from the Dept. of State\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2010"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2010","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2010"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/voting-butterfly.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":151347,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2020\/09\/24\/looking-at-the-2020-colorado-ballot-propositions.html","url_meta":{"origin":18890,"position":3},"title":"Looking at the 2020 Colorado ballot propositions","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 24-Sep-20 11:46am","format":false,"excerpt":"It's a long list, but here are my initial judgments and inclinations.","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2020"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2020","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2020"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Colorado-voting.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Colorado-voting.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Colorado-voting.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Colorado-voting.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":137266,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/10\/03\/my-take-on-the-colorado-state-ballot-initiatives-2018.html","url_meta":{"origin":18890,"position":4},"title":"My take on the Colorado State Ballot Initiatives 2018","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 3-Oct-18 8:48pm","format":false,"excerpt":"We have a full ticket of amendments and propositions this year, including some in conflict with each other, and some that seem to interlock. I've read through the ballot guide from the state, as well as looking up info about who's supporting and who's opposing each bill[1]. This latter was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/vote.gifimgmax%3D660.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/vote.gifimgmax%3D660.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/vote.gifimgmax%3D660.gif?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":151964,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2020\/11\/05\/the-2020-colorado-ballot-proposition-results.html","url_meta":{"origin":18890,"position":5},"title":"The 2020 Colorado ballot proposition results","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 5-Nov-20 12:52am","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm mostly happy about the results.","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2020"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2020","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2020"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Colorado-voting.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Colorado-voting.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Colorado-voting.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Colorado-voting.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18890\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}