A lawmaker who wanted to phase out a reviled business tax but had to settle for a study warned that the community will put a measure on the ballot to get rid of the tax if the legislature doesn’t act.
Sen. Mark Scheffel, R-Parker, said even his phase-out was met with skepticism by the business community because it would have been over a 40-year period.
“I am greatly disappointed,” he said Wednesday. “You can only study so much. At some point, we need to move forward. This is a lousy tax, and we’ve got to get rid of it.”
The Senate gave initial approval to Senate Bill 85, calling for a summer study on the tax.
The business personal-property tax is assessed on everything from desks to heavy equipment, and counties with power plants and railroads receive huge infusions of the tax money. Counties have led the fight against revoking it.
“We know the tax is regressive, but we have several communities that rely on it and will not be able to maintain essential services if it is not maintained,” said Sen. Abel Tapia, D-Pueblo.
Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, warned counties that the bill at some point is going to pass.
“I get it. It’s a revenue stream that is important to them,” he said. “But we couldn’t have done anything better this session than pass this bill.”
Sen. Paula Sandoval, a Denver Democrat and a restaurant owner, said she is probably is one of the few lawmakers who has to pay the tax. She supported the phase-out, which she said was so gradual she would have been 97 years old when the tax finally ended.
One of the biggest critics of the bill was Sen. Moe Keller, D-Wheat Ridge, who warned that if it passed, the state would be obligated to backfill the money that would have gone to school districts. She said the state, already in a crisis, doesn’t have it.
She said Wednesday not all business people support eliminating the tax.
She said she received a letter from someone who doesn’t have a lot of inventory but does have a lot of land. That person feared if the business personal-property tax were reduced or eliminated, property taxes would have to be increased.
Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327 or lbartels@denverpost.com
