If you’re still undecided on how to vote on Referendums C and D, some reflection on the value of $15 may help you decide.
Do the two ballot issues increase taxes? No – Referendum C would actually lower the state income tax rate from 4.63 percent to 4.5 percent in 2011, while providing a temporary timeout from the rachet-down effect of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. It would allow the state to keep and spend the taxes it collects for the next five years. Referendum D would let the state borrow against those taxes so that road and school repairs could begin immediately.
Opponents also falsely claim that the average family of four would forgo $3,200 if C and D pass. They don’t tell you that the fictional family would have to qualify for each one of the 16 different tax credits that make up TABOR’s complicated rebate mechanism. The family would have to be poor enough to qualify for the earned income tax credit, but rich enough to qualify for the capital gains tax credit. They would have to be rural medical providers who recently bought a 26,000-pound vehicle and would have to own a substantial amount of business personal property. Highly unlikely? Obviously.
A more accurate estimate, from the nonpartisan Legislative Council, is that if C is rejected by voters, the average TABOR rebate next year will be just $15 per person. (Over the five years, the rebates may rise to be closer to $100 per year, still a small price considering what is at stake.)
Significant business, and educational, political and religious leaders, many of them very conservative, understand the urgency of a “yes” vote. Those willing to give up their $15 next year include Gov. Bill Owens, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, University of Colorado President Hank Brown, Denver Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput and Denver Chamber CEO Joe Blake.
Colorado’s highways are overcrowded and crumbling, with no hope for significant relief unless C and D pass. The recently reauthorized federal transportation bill offered Colorado one of the highest percentage increases in federal dollars of any state. Unfortunately, to get those dollars, the state has to provide matching funds that it simply does not have. If the referendums fail, we can kiss those federal dollars goodbye. Is it worth $15 to you to experience less congestion and to dodge fewer potholes?
If C fails, Colorado faces a $2 billion budget shortfall over the next five years, and significant cuts in services will be inevitable. Meals on Wheels will be on the chopping block, as will programs that provide prosthetics for the disabled, protect victims of domestic violence and help safeguard clean air. Seniors will lose their property-tax exemptions. Eleven state parks will be permanently closed and 15 others will be shut down seasonally. The poison control hotline and office of suicide prevention will be eliminated. The state will no longer oversee mental health providers, electricians or plumbers. The agency that monitors insurance and securities fraud will go away. Are any of these programs worth $15 to you?
Higher education, already reeling from draconian budget cuts, faces an additional 20 percent loss of state funding, which would make Colorado 50th in the U.S. in support for higher education. Some community colleges will close permanently. How do you value $15 versus the future of higher ed in Colorado?
It’s ironic that those who are fanatically opposed to C and D have no viable alternative to offer besides slashing services still further. TABOR author Douglas Bruce would cut health care for the poor, while the Independence Institute would eliminate programs for seniors. Former state Sen. John Andrews would have you pay tolls on the roads you travel; he’d also do away completely with state funding for Colorado colleges and universities. Joe Stengel, House minority leader, would steal funds from the lottery to pay for higher education. That has been tried twice before, and each time citizens have resoundingly voted to keep lottery funds for parks, recreation and open space.
Obviously, there’s a lot at stake in this election. How much is $15 worth to you?
Susan Thornton (smthornton@aol.com) served 16 years on the Littleton City Council, including eight years as mayor. She writes on suburban issues on alternate Thursdays.
