Aurora City Council member Françoise Bergan | Photo: Timothy Hurst, The Denver GazetteAppreciating property values feels good until assessments are adjusted and tax bills come due. After a period of record appreciation, Governor Polis and the Democratic legislature proposed Proposition HH, offering some tax relief and a lot of funding to K-12 public education from TABOR refunds. The public said no by 20 points on November 7. However, shortly after the election, a repackaged Prop. HH (WSJ 11-28-23) was passed by the legislative majority in a special session.
Will a new version have political consequences? The original did last November. Article by Pam Zubeck for CSIndy, November 14, 2023.
“Floyd Ciruli, a political consultant based in Denver, tells the Indy that Proposition HH was basically a gift to Republicans to draw out voters who historically oppose tax hikes. Those voters (Republicans voted in greater numbers in El Paso County than did unaffiliated voters and Democrats) then impacted down-ballot races and ballot measures.
“The governor helped the Republicans find an issue they could all rally around and ignore some of their recent divisions,” he says. “It was a TABOR tax election.”
“While debates over how to deal with crime dominated the election in Denver and Aurora, it’s more difficult to find support for criminal justice facilities, including courthouses, jails and, in Colorado Springs’ case, as police academy,” Ciruli says.
“The public wants to be protected, but they really do hate to pay for it,” Ciruli says.”
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