ASPEN — Next stop, the Colorado Supreme Court.
After failed attempts at the appellate court level to rescind the city’s 20-cent fee on paper bags at Aspen’s two supermarkets, a Colorado nonprofit plans to see if the state’s high court will entertain its argument that the charge is unconstitutional and actually a sin tax.
On Thursday, the Colorado Court of Appeals announced it would not rehear arguments from the Colorado Union of Taxpayers Foundation, which had sued the city government and its elected officials for passing the ordinance in 2011 arguing that voters should have decided the issue and calling the fee a sin tax. The city passed the ordinance in an effort to encourage consumers to reduce waste.
In November, the appellate court panel upheld 9th Judicial District Judge John Neiley’s ruling that the fee is constitutional and did not require a public vote.
The Mountain States Legal Foundation, which represents the Colorado Union of Taxpayers in the litigation, asked the Court of Appeals to rehear the case but was denied.
The Supreme Court could elect to not hear the case, meaning the lower court’s order would stand.
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