Colorado voters need to pass Referendums C and D in November so improvements to the state’s roads can accommodate a growing population and economy, Gov. Bill Owens told transportation leaders on Wednesday.
“We simply don’t have anywhere near enough revenue to address Colorado’s future (highway) needs, even our present needs,” the governor said at the Front Range Transportation Forum.
The ballot measures would lift state spending limits set by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR, which Colorado voters approved in 1992.
If voters endorse Referendum C, it would allow the state to keep up to $3.7 billion over five years – money that would otherwise be returned to taxpayers under TABOR.
Referendum D, the companion measure on the fall ballot, would allow the state to sell up to $2.1 billion in bonds to pay for new roads, university buildings and improvements to some of Colorado’s poorest schools, as well as cover police and fire pension obligations, Owens said.
If C and D pass, the largest single portion of bond proceeds – about $1.2 billion – would go to the Colorado Department of Transportation for 55 highway projects around the state.
“There is a huge need for roads,” Owens said, after telling transportation leaders that CDOT’s spending was reduced 41 percent in four years. “We are far behind where we need to be.”
Owens has been traveling the state this week, explaining to business, health care and other groups why they should support the referendums.
Opponents are also on the campaign trail, arguing that the referendums are a tax hike that would unnecessarily expand state government.
Wednesday’s forum, held at the Colorado Convention Center, drew more than 100 officials from communities along the Front Range.
Congestion within and between urbanized areas of the Front Range is likely to get far worse over the next 25 years, Denver Regional Council of Governments official Jeff May told attendees.
Unless measures are taken to address the problem, Interstate 25 between Fort Collins and Colorado Springs could become “one unbroken string of congestion” by 2030, May said.
Staff writer Jeffrey Leib can be reached at 303-820-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com.
