Excerpts from the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling upholding a tax measure expected to raise $1.7 billion for schools over 11 years. Opponents argued it was unconstitutional because it was not approved by the voters under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR, a constitutional amendment limiting tax and spending increases. The property tax bill is referred to in the ruling as SB 07-199.
“Interpreting (TABOR’s) various provisions harmoniously leads to the conclusion that only one election at the school district level was required in this case, and the local school district elections fulfilled that election requirement.”
“SB 07-199 did not unconstitutionally cause a ‘tax policy change directly causing a net tax revenue gain to any district’ without prior voter approval. The plaintiffs have not proved that SB 07-199 violated a constitutional provision.
“We conclude that SB 07-199 was a constitutional application of (TABOR) to the School Finance Act. The plaintiffs failed to prove it unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt.”
“SB 07-199 does not establish a new tax or increase tax rates. Rather, it allows the public school funding system to capture increased property tax revenues resulting from increased property values.”
