DENVER-
The House gave initial approval to a plan Thursday 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.
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.
The measure (Senate Bill 199) faces a third reading before it goes back to the Senate for consideration of amendments.
Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, said the proposal amounts to a $1.8 billion tax increase over the next 11 years that should go to the voters under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, which requires voter approval for tax increases.
“You do not get extra revenue without a tax increase,” Gardner said.
Pommer said the $1.8 billion represents money the state should be collecting and he said that’s not a tax increase.
