Gov. Bill Ritter emerged defiant Saturday, saying he is certain a Denver district judge’s ruling that his mill-levy freeze is unconstitutional will be overturned.
One day earlier, Judge Christina Habas said the freeze — which generated more than $117 million this year for school districts and saved the state an equal amount — was illegal because it wasn’t approved by voters.
But Ritter said Saturday he is so confident the state Supreme Court will reverse the lower court’s decision that, as he begins planning for next year’s budget, he will assume the freeze will remain in place.
“We’re still confident in our position here, we really are,” Ritter said in a telephone interview Saturday, his first public comments on Friday’s ruling.
“We understand this is in greater flux than it was,” Ritter added, “but we have to still go forward and budget with what we believe will be in place.”
As the initial commotion around the ruling settled Saturday, players on both sides of the year-long fight over the freeze began to look forward.
Ritter said the state will file its notice of appeal in the case this week, the first step in sending the case to the state’s highest court.
Meanwhile, leading Republican lawmakers plan to meet this week to discuss what their response to the ruling will be.
“The attorney general has said it’s unconstitutional; the courts have said it’s unconstitutional,” said Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma. “What part of ‘no’ does this governor not understand?”
The legislature passed the freeze last year, and it holds mill levies — the rate at which taxes are charged — in place when they normally would fall. That allows school districts to collect more tax money and lessens the amount of state money they receive. Ritter, in return, plans to use the money the state saves to expand access to preschool and full-day kindergarten programs, among other things.
Return the money?
Late last year, a group of taxpayers, organized by the conservative Independence Institute, filed suit against the Colorado Department of Education, arguing that the freeze needed voter approval under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR.
Habas did not say in her ruling whether the state should refund the money it kept from the freeze, instead leaving that up to the Supreme Court.
State leaders gave dire predictions Saturday about what it would mean to have to return the money.
Ritter said he would have to discontinue the school programs that the freeze funds, and said it could lead to cuts in higher education or health care.
“What it would mean is the state could not spend so much money on other programs,” said Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, chairman of the Joint Budget Committee.
But Jon Caldara, the president of the Independence Institute, said basic public school funding wouldn’t change because of a ruling against the freeze and said Ritter deserves no sympathy if the state must pay back the money.
“There were about a dozen proposals to set this money aside to wait and see what the outcome of the suit was,” Caldara said. “They’re going to say, ‘You’re going to hurt the children.’ No. These people hurt the children by passing an unconstitutional tax increase.”
Court versed in TABOR
When the freeze reaches the Supreme Court, it will face a very different audience than it did in district court.
Habas was appointed to the bench by former Gov. Bill Owens, a Republican. The Supreme Court is dominated by justices appointed by former Gov. Roy Romer, a Democrat, with just two of the seven justices having been appointed by Owens.
Also, while Habas said she struggled with TABOR’s complexities, the Supreme Court justices are experts in the matter, having already heard numerous TABOR cases, said Carol Hedges, a senior analyst with Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute.
Caldara said the Supreme Court has a history of being unfriendly to TABOR, but he said he is confident things will be different this time.
“The constitution is the constitution,” Caldara said. “And I’m optimistic that the Supreme Court understands that as well.”
John Ingold: 303-954-1068 or jingold@denverpost.com
