After much debate, a bipartisan property tax bill has passed through the Colorado State Legislature. The House voted 45-18 and the Senate approved it 30-4, according to CPR News and KDVR. Despite the progress, Democratic Representative Brianna Titone of Arvada expressed a sense of resignation about the compromise, stating in an interview, as per CPR News, "I think that everybody is just saying, 'Well, we've got something that's less bad and we're okay with that.' Less bad is still bad, so why are we allowing ourselves to succumb to this kind of thing?"
The legislation, carrying measures such as reducing the local government revenue cap to 5.25% annual growth, implementing a 6% annual school revenue growth cap, and extending backfill for entities most impacted through 2025, aims to introduce new financing flexibility for school districts and local governments, this flexibility allows them to carry forward unused growth capability into subsequent assessment cycles while protecting taxpayers from sharp spikes in property values, the Senate Democrats emphasized the significance of these provisions in a press release cited by KDVR. Another inclusion of the bill will see the Property Tax Commission evaluating the reforms of SB24-233 and HB24B-1001 to report on the tax code's efficacy in delivering relief to those in dire need.
In contesting the compromise, Republicans echo a sentiment of missed opportunity by local governments, which, as per a Colorado Sun analysis, did not sufficiently lower mill levies in last year's surge of property values, leading to a 20% rise in revenues against a 4.3% average dip in levies. "They had a windfall, and they could have helped our taxpayers by adjusting their mill levies," Rep. Rick Taggart, a Grand Junction Republican, as per Colorado Sun, "And quite honestly, had they done that, we probably wouldn’t be here today, That’s the reason why we’re here."
Despite the tug-of-war over the state's financial direction, many local governments have signaled their support for the bill, whether out of a strategic concession or an acknowledgment of the lesser of two evils posed by Initiatives 108 and 50, which threatened more severe outcomes. An upshot of the compromise is the governor's incoming decision, with the bill now headed to Gov. Jared Polis' desk for his signature, marking the crossover of six years of legislative toiling into potential law, as Sen. Chris Hansen, a lead sponsor of the measure reflected on the matter, according to KDVR, "represents the culmination of more than six years of work."
