State officials will have to cut $272 million from next year’s budget if the state Supreme Court does not overturn a lower court’s ruling that Gov. Bill Ritter’s mill-levy freeze is unconstitutional, Republican legislative leaders said Thursday in a letter to the governor.
The letter, signed by Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany of Colorado Springs and House Minority Leader Mike May of Parker tells Ritter that he must come up with a plan now to deal with the potential undoing of his mill-levy freeze rather than wait to see how the Supreme Court rules.
The two lawmakers also suggest to Ritter the possibility of a special legislative session to deal with the issue.
“If you refuse to act, we strongly believe you owe the people of Colorado an explanation as to why you are so certain that the Supreme Court will overturn the existing ruling,” the letter states.
In an e-mail, Ritter’s spokesman, Evan Dreyer, said he was “surprised” it had taken Republicans so long to write their letter.
“They are doing what they’ve done on this issue for over a year: playing partisan politics,” he said.
A Denver district judge ruled last week that the freeze — which is expected to generate billions of dollars for local school districts in the next decade — is unconstitutional because it was not approved by voters. Ritter has said repeatedly he is confident the Supreme Court will reverse the district court’s ruling and uphold the mill-levy freeze.
Dreyer said the governor’s office would formally appeal the ruling next week.
The mill-levy freeze, passed by the legislature last year, holds property-tax rates in place when they would otherwise fall to comply with the complicated tangle of fiscal rules in the state’s constitution. The freeze only went into effect in the vast majority of Colorado school districts that had already voted to shed certain constitutional revenue limits, but Denver District Judge Christina Habas said those earlier votes weren’t enough to authorize the freeze.
The Republicans’ $272 million figure comes from a memo the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Council prepared for them. It includes the projected amount from the freeze that is budgeted for next year — $136 million — plus the gross amount the freeze generated this year, $123 million, and interest. The net amount generated by the freeze this year is less because the freeze lowered property-tax revenue in some school districts.
RELATED
Ritter strikes down a trio of House bills.
Citing concerns over the potential loss of federal funding and the enforcement of attendance laws, Gov. Bill Ritter on Thursday morning vetoed House Bill 1186, which would have removed scoring penalties for students who do not take the annual Colorado Student Assessment Program tests.
He also vetoed:
• House Bill 1170, which would have established continuing competency standards for electricians.
• House Bill 1150, a measure to implement a three-year pilot program to provide chiropractic care, massage therapy and acupuncture to Medicaid clients with spinal- cord injuries.
