House Bill 24B-1001, which is waiting for Governor Polis’s approval, would lower property taxes and deal with rising property prices. It would be a big change to Colorado’s property tax system.
Colorado Property Tax Reform
The Center Square story says that House Bill 24B-1001, which is waiting for Governor Jared Polis‘s approval, will make big changes to Colorado’s property tax system. This bill, which came out of a special sitting of the legislature, got support from both parties and passed the House by a vote of 58–3 and the Senate by a vote of 30–4. The bill wants to lower the property tax rate on homes from 6.4% to 6.25%. If property prices rise by more than 5% across the state, the rate could go down even further, to 6.1%. Also, the tax rate for the school district is supposed to go down from 7.15% to 7.05%, and it could go down even further to 6.95% in the same situation.
Conservative groups like Advance Colorado and Colorado Concern agreed to drop two controversial ballot measures, Initiative 50 and Initiative 108, in return for this legislative compromise. This led to the bill being made. Initiative 50 wanted to limit the yearly growth of property tax revenue to 4%. Initiative 108, on the other hand, wanted to cut property tax revenue by $3 billion in 2025. President of Advance Colorado Michael Fields praised the bill as a good step for taxpayers whose property taxes have gone up an average of 30% over the past few years.
A Compromise Solution Amid Ongoing Debate
Even though the bill has a lot of support, some politicians have said bad things about it. Senator Mark Baisley says it doesn’t deal with the real problems that cause property prices to go up and down and assessments to go up. At the same time, Democrat Senator Rachel Zenzinger said that the plan isn’t perfect but is a necessary compromise to deal with concerns about property taxes. Governor Polis has said that this work by both parties will help Colorado taxpayers, help small businesses, and make sure that schools get the money they need.
A big compromise has been reached in the ongoing fight in Colorado over property taxes, as shown by House Bill 24B-1001. Some people like that it lowers property taxes a bit, but others say it doesn’t fully fix the problems with property prices and assessments. Important steps were taken to get the bill passed, including pulling more extreme ballot proposals. This shows how difficult it is to make good tax policy.