More than 15 years ago, Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights
(TABOR) became a model of tax reform and fiscal responsibility.
Coloradans have enjoyed an active role in where and how their tax
dollars are spent, but liberals are crying foul in an economy
where low revenue restricts them from spending on pet projects.
Also known as Article X of the Colorado state constitution, TABOR
limits the growth of government by proportionally generating tax
revenue during good times and decreasing during the bad. The crux
of TABOR is simple: the state’s tax revenue can grow no faster
than inflation plus population growth, and anything representing
a surplus must be either earmarked for future K-12 funding or
refunded directly back to the taxpayers.
Though the law was approved by voters in 1992, liberals have
consistently tried to erode it. The first attempt at watering it
down came in 2000, when Democrats tacked on Amendment 23,
mandating that K-12 spending increases every year, regardless of
tax revenue. Though education spending enjoys broad popular
support, fiscal conservatives could see TABOR creeping away from
its mission.
TABOR also prevents legislators from spending additional funds on
new programs without the taxpayers’ approval in a referendum. One
successful plea for more taxpayer money came in 2005, when
lawmakers and then Gov. Bill Owens — a onetime conservative hero
— claimed that the state was beginning to experience a recession
and needed some help with things such as Medicaid and
infrastructure. But the Independence Institute famously found,
the state’s needs included funding a great deal of waste
(pdf).
Voters nevertheless approved Referendum C, giving TABOR a
“five-year timeout” so that the state could fix its so-called
problems and stop sending taxpayers their refund checks. Liberals
were once again successful in chipping away at the law that kept
them from their tradition of spending frivolously. With the five
years coming to an end in 2010, some Colorado legislators are
looking to take not just another big chunk, but to repeal TABOR
altogether.
In the 2009 state budget presented on January 26, Gov. Bill
Ritter incited panic among the legislature when he listed the
programs needed in these dark economic times: a complete
“greening” of public buildings, modernization of state agencies,
and millions of dollars for “Neighborhood Restabilization” to
families about to undergo foreclosure — among many other
so-called necessities. During his state of the state address just
a few weeks ago, Ritter stated that TABOR is a “statutory
straightjacket that makes modern, sensible, and value-based
budgeting an impossibility.” Calls to repeal TABOR have been
ringing throughout the state capitol ever since.
Before taxpayer’s rights are completely taken off the table,
perhaps the governor should take a page from the example of
Colorado Springs, a large suburb just an hour and half south of
Denver. The city had its own version of TABOR and like many
American cities was mired in recession. But officials there
decided against raising taxes.
State Senator Andy McElhaney (R-Colorado Springs), said that even
though the economy is terrible, there is no need to further
burden taxpayers. “It’s tough times for the city, [and] tough
times for the people.”
What Gov. Ritter and fellow liberals don’t understand is that
taxpayers are hurting in the recession too. Taxpaying families
should not be forced to cough up extra money in hard times —
particularly when they have already passed laws like TABOR to
protect their paychecks.
Call it an assault on the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.
