DENVER-
The House Education Committee approved a plan Monday that would block an anticipated decline in school taxes to provide more funding for education. Republicans called it a tax hike and said it should go to the voters.
Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, said the School Finance Act was intended to provide thorough and uniform funding across the state. He said under the current system, it’s not thorough and uniform.
He said school districts with high property values are getting large state subsidies, while districts with low property values are paying some of the highest tax rates. He said mill levies across the state are as low as 1.7 mills, while others pay 37 mills.
“Taxpayers in some districts could get a free ride,” Pommer said.
To fix the inequity, Pommer introduced an amendment to the School Finance Act that would freeze mill levies across the state in districts that have voted to give up their tax surplus refunds and set a 27 mill cap, which he said is an average of mill levies statewide. It applies to 175 of 178 school districts.
“This is a leak in the state budget,” Pommer said.
The House Education Committee approved the amendment and sent the bill (Senate Bill 199) to the House Appropriations Committee.
Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, said it’s a tax increase that should go to the voters under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, which requires voter approval for tax increases. Gardner said Democrats are already coming up with plans to spend the money on new programs rather than setting the money aside to pay for public education.
Gardner said under Pommer’s plan, taxpayers could be paying an additional $1.7 billion by fiscal year 2016.
“We’re talking about a significant change in tax policy,” Gardner said.
Republicans tried and failed to amend the bill to let voters ratify it and vowed to continue their fight.
Former state Sen. Norma Anderson, a Republican, said voters in those districts who voted to give up their tax surplus refunds because they wanted to support public education are being cheated by state tax policies that won’t allow school districts to spend the money they are allowed to spend. She said Pommer’s plan would fix that.
“We are now in fact taking away the vote of the people at the local level,” Anderson said.
Anderson said Pommer’s proposal was a better solution than going to a vote.
“You could go to a vote of the people for a uniform tax throughout the state. That’s the ideal solution, but it’s not going to happen. You have to be realistic,” she said.
