We're tracking the Colorado General Assembly's special session on property taxes.This week's special session is focused on a property tax deal crafted by legislative leaders, the governor and two groups, Advance Colorado and Colorado Concern. The two groups pledged to withdraw two property tax ballot measures should the deal win approval from the General Assembly.Follow us here.
And that's a wrap as of 7:20 p.m.
There are now just four bills (out of the 13 introduced) left standing: the main deal bill (HB24B-1001) the constitutional amendment bill (HCR24B-1001) from Rep. Mike Weissman, D-Aurora; a bill creating a new residential property class for affordable housing (HB24B-1007) and a bill making permanent a business personal property tax exemption for ag equipment (HB24B-1003). The last bill won its passage to the full House on a 7-3 vote.
The House adjourned for the night to allow the sponsors of HB24B-1001 more time to negotiate; this bill still has a ways to go and is struggling to find enough votes from progressive House Democrats.
6:45 p.m.
One morebill has been put to rest by the House Appropriations Committee Monday night: House Bill 24B-1002.
Sponsored by Reps. Javier Mabrey and Steven Woodrow, both Denver Democrats, HB 1002 addressed what Mabrey indicated was one of the problems with the deal bill, that it benefited wealthy homeowners and left nothing for those at the lower end of the income scale. The bill would have sent a referred measure to the 2025 ballot that would havecreated a new residential property class, as well as remove a subtraction for determining assessed value for other types of residential property beginning with the 2026 property tax year.
It died on a 7-3 vote in the House Appropriations Committee, which included comments from lawmakers that it wasn't urgent given that it wasn't intended for this year's ballot and could wait until next January's regular session.
5:20 p.m.
HB24B-1001wins an 8-3 vote from House Appropriations Committee after a five-hour hearing. The committee adopted all the technical cleanup amendments, but not the fire district carve-out (they didn't vote on it).
The vote was bipartisan, with two Democrats, Reps. Emily Sirota, D-Denver and Elizabeth Velasco, D-Glenwood Springs, voting against along with Rep. Scott Bottoms, R-Colorado Springs. That vote hints at the problems progressive Democrats have with the bill.
4:00 p.m.
Lawmakers are nearing the end of the hearing on HB24B-1001, with just a handful of witnesses left to testify. The bill's success may hinge on a carve-out amendment for fire districts; there are at least four lawmakers on the panel whose districts include some of the state's most active wildfire areas.
Colorado Counties, Inc.'s Kelly Flenniken testified the deal has broad bipartisan support from her members, as it represents an effort to provide property tax relief and still protect essential services. "We don't want to have the discussion" about which services are more important than others, she said. "We understand your frustration" and share it, but don't jeopardize the counties' ability to provide these services, she added.
Higher ed and K-12 districts also fully support the bill and deal.
Now hearing that the House will adjourn for the day once House Appropriations is concluded, no second reading on the Weissman concurrent resolution bill or whatever comes out of House Appropriations. That means the special session will go into a fourth day, assuming the bills left standing can get through the Senate. Weissman's bill is unlikely to get the two-thirds it needs unless sponsors can find a Republican vote, and we're hearing there aren't any.
3:00 p.m.
Three more bills have gone down to defeat:House bills 1006,1004and1009. The first would have expanded property tax exemptions; the second was on more property tax relief for homeowners and the third was on a special district property tax waiver.
That leaves lawmakers with five bills left out of the original 13. Four of the five are in House Appropriations, where they're now into the 3rd hour of testimony onHouse Bill 24B-1001.
There's chatter, however, that the bill may not have the votes to clear the House, and that also raises the question whether it will get out of the committee. Progressives don't like it, and fire districts are also raising objections. Fire district representatives say they can't take any more property tax cuts, given the wildfires they're dealing with, and are asking for a carve-out in the bill.
There's a fair amount of grumbling going on that caving to the conservative groups was not necessary and that the ballot measures have little chance of passage.
1:50 p.m.
Rep. Andrew Boesenecker, D-Fort Collins, just asked Sobanet to declare CSU has the best college football program in the state. No comment from Saliman.
1:45 p.m.
A panel of higher ed leaders — Todd Saliman of CU, Joe Garcia of the community colleges, Henry Sobanet of CSU—are testifying about the impact Proposition 108 would have on their budgets. They can deal with the impact of House Bill 24B-1001, said Garcia, but Proposition 108 would force deep cuts.
1:30 p.m.:
House Concurrent Resolution 24B-1001, the referral to voters to block any future statewide initiatives on property taxes, passed on a party-line 8-3 vote. It will need a two-thirds vote in the House to move on to the Senate, or 44 votes.
House Concurrent Resolution 24B-1002, which sought to restore the Gallagher amendment, was postponed indefinitely on a party-line 8-3 vote. Both of those measures were heard by the House Transportation & Local Government Committee.
Two other measures to modify reduction in valuation for assessment of residential real property and as contained in HB24B-1005also failed in the House Transportation committee, as did HB24B-1008, which would create a new tax code task force.
That leaves lawmakers with 8 of the original 13 bills.
1:20 p.m. Chris Hansen wants Advance Colorado to pull initiatives from ballot first
Lawmakers have noted that neither Advance Colorado nor Colorado Concern had signed up to testify on House Bill 24B-1001, the main "deal" bill of the special session.
That said, the two groups, along with the Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce, sent lawmakers a letter this morning, pledging to withdraw the two ballot measures should the deal contained in HB24B-1001 be signed into law.
However, Sen. Chris Hansen, D-Denver, said in a pre-session press conference this morning that the ballot measures must be pulledfirstand the bill will be signed after that.
Rep. Judy Amabile, D-Boulder, raised some interesting questions during the bill's hearing in House Appropriations. She asked if any group would fare better under the two ballot measures. House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, said "no." She said there are questions about whether the state could even backfill the lost funding that would result from the two measures. That's estimated at as much as $3 billion in general fund dollars — roughly 25% of this revenue pot that the General Assembly spends each year.
Amabile then noted that she'd heard the two ballot measures could be "easily beat," but her calculation is that it's not worth the risk not to pass the compromise.
Amabile and McCluskie's points aren't surprising— Democrats and their allies oppose both initiatives, whose proponents argue that lawmakers have failed to offer sufficient and meaningful relief to Coloradans facing soaring property tax liabilities.
Going to the ballot is a risk both to citizens and to local governments, said House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese, R-Colorado Springs, the bill's other sponsor.
1:15 p.m. SCR 002 has been postponed indefinitely
The Senate Finance Committee voted, 3-2, to postpone SCR 002 indefinitely
12:55 p.m. Sens. Baisley and Van Winkle present SCR 002
Senators Mark Baisley, R-Woodland Park, and Kevin Van Winkle, R-Highlands Ranch, presented SCR 002, which proposes a new method for calculating the assessed value of special districts.
The resolution is sponsored in the House by Rep. Brandi Bradley, R-Roxborough Park.
Currently, special district assessments are calculated by multiplying the actual property value by the assessment rate and multiplying that by the mill levy. Under the resolution, valuations would instead be calculated by dividing the actual value by the total actual value of all taxable property in the district, then multiplying that figure by the special district's budget. That budget, according to the resolution, would be based on the district's 2021 budget plus the annual growth in inflation plus the percent change in valuation for the previous year.
According to Van Winkle, the calculation laid out in the resolution would allow for "slow and steady predictable growth" and prevent "massive spikes and drops" that may catch taxpayers off guard.
12:50 p.m. SCR 001 postponed indefinitely
The Senate Finance Committee unanimously elected to postpone SCR 001 indefinitely, but several members expressed interest in discussing land value taxes during the regular session.
12:40 p.m. Committee meeting is interrupted by man yelling in hall
A member of the public who was distressed about his calls not being returned caused some commotion in the hall outside the committee room, putting the committee into a brief recess. Sen. Chris Kolker, D- Centennial, left the meeting to try and talk with the man.
12:30 p.m. Sen. Hinrichsen presents SCR 001
Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, D-Pueblo, presented SCR 001 to the Senate Finance Committee. The resolution, which is co-sponsored by Rep. Steven Woodrow, D-Denver, would allow local governments to implement land value taxes, contingent upon voter approval.
Land value taxes are based on the value of the land itself rather, not any improvements made to it, such as the building of homes or commercial property. Under the resolution, local governments would have the choice to implement land value taxes rather than the currently used ad valorem taxes, which is calculated based on the total value of a property, including both the land and any improvements made.
12:23 p.m. House Appropriations resolves audio problems
House Appropriations has finally resolved its audio problems and the committee is now hearing House Bill 24B-1001, which contains the deal that could result in the withdrawal of Propositions 50 and 108, as well as provide property tax relief.
12:15 p.m.TABOR Foundation representative criticizes separate proposal limiting citizen initiatives
HCR24B-1001 testimony: Natalie Menten, director of the TABOR Foundation, pointed out that limiting citizen property tax ballot measures to local governments (as is proposed in a resolution) won't work because state law does not allow citizen initiatives for special districts, school districts or county governments.
12:05 p.m. After delay due to IT issues, Senate Finance Committee commences hearing
After a 30-minute delay due to technology issues, the Senate Finance Committee has convened to consider two Concurrent Resolutions, HCR 001 and HCR 002. The first measure propose a new alternative property tax system, while the second presents a revised calculation for determining property tax assessment valuations for special districts, respectively.
12:00 p.m. Lawmakers tackle proposal to limit citizen initiatives on property taxes
The House Transportation and Local Government Committee is working on House Concurrent Resolution 24B-1001, the constitutional amendment that would ask voters to ban statewide citizen initiatives on property taxes. Both the sponsors of the two ballot measure — Propositions 50 and 108 — and some lawmakers have called it a deal-breaker for the main property tax deal.
11:30 a.m. Audio problems delay start
Audio problems are delaying the start of the House appropriations and finance committees. House Transportation & Local Government is moving ahead.
10 a.m. And the special session is off!
The Colorado General Assembly reconvened this morning for its second special session in less than a year on property taxes.
The pomp and circ*mstance that accompanies a regular session was kept to a bare minimum, with notifications to the governor from each chamber that they were ready to go (and to each other as well).
Once that was done, the 13 bills dealing with property taxes, including the all-important House Bill 24B1001, were introduced and sent off to committees.
In the House, three committees (appropriations, finance, and transportation and local government) are meeting. The Senate Finance Committee will handle its two bills, both concurrent resolutions that contain constitutional amendments that would be referred to voters in the Nov. 2024 general elect.
In the House, 63 out of 65 lawmakers are present. Speaker Pro tempore Chris DeGruy Kennedy of Lakewood, who took a job as executive director of the Bell Policy Center earlier this summer, is excused. Rep. Rod Bockenfeld, R-Watkins, who has been fighting cancer, is also excused.
Here are the broad strokes
A deal to further reduce property taxes sits on a razor's edge as lawmakers prepare to convene into a special session and pass the compromise aimed at heading off two initiatives from the November general election. Some legislators are likely to push for several bills — in draft form as of Thursday —that aren't part of the compromise. If they advanced, it could result in the compromise going down in flames.
And political pressures are mounting. On the one hand, some residents argue the people should decide and the two initiatives should, thereby, appear on the ballot. On the other hand, some policymakers are unhappy they were not included in the negotiations.
What to expect
Lawmakers will return at 10 a.m. on Aug. 26 and the special session is expected to last at least three days. That's the minimum amount of time it takes to pass a bill through both chambers of the legislature.
But it could go longer.
The session limit is mentioned in anAug. 15 memo from the six legislative leaders, known as the Executive Committee of the Legislative Council.
"We will endeavor to complete our work in three days. However, since we do not know yet how many bills will be introduced, a firm three-day schedule cannot be set," the memo said.
