Proposition HH – Bait and Switch
Proposition HH is on the November ballot. Will it save taxpayers’ money or end up costing us more?
Proposition HH – Bait and Switch
Brian C Joondeph
Proposition HH is on the November ballot. Will it save taxpayers’ money or end up costing us more? It is a classic bait and switch move, and like playing 3 card Monty with the guy on the street corner, you will leave the game with less money in your pocket.
What’s the bait? Start with the wording of the actual ballot question, “Shall the state reduce property taxes for home and businesses…” Who doesn’t want their property taxes reduced? Then again, how many phone calls do we receive from unknown numbers promising to lower our energy, cable, or insurance costs? These are other bait and switch schemes.
Why are property taxes going through the roof now? Colorado voters took the bait in 2020, repealing the longstanding Gallagher Amendment. Put in place in 1982, as home values increased, the amendment lowered the rate used to calculate property tax rates, preventing the kind of runaway property tax increases that we will soon see due to the COVID era rise in home prices.
Opponents of the Gallagher Amendment felt it would make it more difficult for the state to fund continuous cost increases for schools and public services. Under current economic conditions, most Coloradans are also struggling with cost increases, but we can’t call on our fellow citizens to bail us out. That’s why we have budgets and spending priorities, and so should the state.
TABOR, approved in 1992, is a check on profligate state government spending, limiting how much Colorado can retain and spend, tied to inflation and population growth, common sense limits on spending. Excess funds are returned to taxpayers.
Now for the switch. Passing Prop HH would take the TABOR refund Colorado taxpayers would receive and use a portion to reduce property taxes. That would be like the IRS taking your refund and using it to pay for a new tax increase. You are still paying for the tax increase using your own money, just taking it from a different pocket.
Who is supporting Prop HH? As expected, big government donor class Democrats – Pat Stryker, Democrat PAC Boldly Forward, and the Colorado Teachers Union. Their return is more government spending for their pet programs and agendas.
If Prop HH passes, the state would be able to collect and spend an additional $9 billion over the next decade that would otherwise go back to taxpayers. If the legislature extends Prop HH through 2040, Coloradans would face a $21 billion tax increase.
If anyone believes Governor Polis needs more spending money, feel free to write a check to the Colorado Department of Revenue.
The Common Sense Institute summed it up well,
Proposition HH is one of the most complicated ballot measures ever presented to voters. Coloradans are facing historic property tax increases. Property taxes still significantly increase under Prop HH and has costly impacts for homeowners and renters.
Leave it to the government to create a problem, pushing repeal of the Gallagher Amendment, causing a new problem, which they want to “fix” using our money under a new and complex scheme.
The bait is lowering property taxes. The switch is that you will give up more in TABOR refunds than you save in property taxes. And your tax relief would only be temporary as taxes will continue to rise absent the Gallagher Amendment. But your lost TABOR refund will be permanent.
Don’t fall for the bait and switch, short term gain for long term pain. Vote NO on Prop HH.