Gov. Bill Ritter should quickly appeal the Denver District Court decision that declared his tax freeze unconstitutional.
And then the chief executive and the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee should draft a Plan B to cover the expanded preschool and full-day kindergarten programs the freeze was expected to pay for — just in case the state high court upholds the ruling.
To assume the Supreme Court will rule in his favor is unwise.
District Judge Christina Habas said the freeze, which generated more than $117 million this year for school districts and indirectly to the state, violates the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.
Ritter said Saturday he is so confident the Supreme Court will reverse Habas’ decision that he’s assuming the freeze will remain in place as he begins planning next year’s budget.
Alas, the political landscape is littered with the bones of politicians who thought they could predict high court rulings.
Ritter’s confidence rests in part on the fact that Habas was appointed by former Republican Gov. Bill Owens. The Supreme Court has just two Republican justices — Nathan Coats and Allison Eid — and five Democrats: Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey, Gregory Hobbs, Alex Martinez, Michael Bender and Nancy Rice.
But it’s unfair to the court to assume its deliberations are a simple partisan head count. Rice and Hobbs, in particular, are centrists who have joined in some decisions that dismayed Democrats.
For that matter, Habas’ ruling reflects no hint of partisan bias. She specifically rejected the argument of Republican Attorney General John Suthers that such a freeze required a statewide vote. But she went on to find, among other things, that the required pro and con statements that accompanied the 175 local school district “de-Brucing” elections that Ritter cites to justify the freeze were insufficient “to justify an increase in property taxes.”
The high court will undoubtedly review it. But even if Ritter appeals next week, as he has said he will, it’s unlikely the court could resolve the case before it begins its summer recess July 1. The court won’t return until September.
Since the state fiscal year starts July 1, it’s possible the high court might strike down the freeze in the fall, after the new preschool and kindergarten programs have begun.
Since the property taxes affected by the freeze are for calendar year 2008 and won’t be paid until 2009, an adverse ruling by the court would still allow mill levies to be reduced next January to avoid collecting the $117 million. But by then, as much as half of that $117 million would have been spent, forcing the state to juggle reserve funds or tap the state education fund to maintain the programs.
We wish Ritter good luck on the appeal, but we would rest easier knowing there’s a backup plan in place to keep the kindergartens and preschools open even if the high court sides with Judge Habas.
