DENVER—Voters should be given a chance to overturn Gov. Bill Ritter’s property-tax freeze, say two Republican lawmakers.
They say it will generate $114 million next year.
Reps. Bob Witwer of Golden and Cory Gardner of Yuma says that if the Democrat-controlled Legislature refuses to send the measure to the ballot the two legislators say it should be capped at $48 million. They say that is how much the Legislature expected to earn from the measure.
Witwer and Gardner told The Denver Post they were outraged by a legislative memo last week that estimated revenues from the mill-levy freeze at $66 million more than an April calculation.
“We’ve got a runaway tax hike. It’s really critical that we cap them; otherwise, taxpayers are going to have a very rude awakening,” Witwer said Friday.
Ritter spokesman Evan Dreyer said the revenue projections are only estimates. He said it was “wholly inconsistent” that two lawmakers who voted against the freeze now are now “weighing in on a plan of what to do.”
The latest estimate was prepared by the nonpartisan Legislative Council at Gardner’s request.
Supporters say it is needed because state funding for schools had been increasing while local districts cut their tax rates. Republicans object to calling it a freeze, preferring “tax increase.”
Ritter’s plan prevents automatic decreases in tax rates when property values go up.
“If it’s not a tax increase, where does the money come from?” Witwer said. “You can call it a freeze. You can call it duck. You can call it whatever you want, but to taxpayers, it’s a tax hike.”
Dreyer said the new law will lower the mill levy in 34 school districts.
