The campaign to pass the measure that would provide property tax relief to homeowners and commercial business owners through diverting TABOR refunds is off to a strong fundraising start in the last month.

An issue committee registered to back Proposition HH, the measure Democrats passed in the 2023 legislative session, has raised more than $360,000, according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s campaign finance database.

Almost all of it came from either wealthy Coloradans or organizations with ties to Democrats, including Gov. Jared Polis.

The ballot question will ask voters this November for permission to raise what’s called the Referendum C cap by 1% and keep that additional revenue for a 10-year period. That would generate about $167 million per year, which, in turn, would be funneled to local governments to hold them “harmless” from reductions in property tax revenue, as well as boost funding for K-12 education.

A companion measure, contained in House Bill 1311, will provide an equalized TABOR refund to taxpayers, should Proposition HH pass, giving each single filer $873 next year, or $1,746 for joint filers, based on recent projections from the governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting.

Critics have said the proposal increases the cap by 1% each year for the next nine years, compounding the amount the government is allowed to keep and spend on property tax relief, reducing, in turn, TABOR refunds.

If passed by voters, Proposition HH would make a temporary assessment rate reduction for residential property classes and reduce valuations – and the property taxes tied to those valuations – for owner-occupied, senior and multi-family housing by $50,000 in 2023, and by $40,000 from 2024 to 2032.

If voters rejected the measure, the TABOR refund in 2024 would be based on the state’s current six-tier refund mechanism, which is decided by income levels.

The pro-HH issue committee, Property Tax Relief Now, raised more than $360,000 in its first 30 days. 

The two largest donations, at $100,000 each, came from Fort Collins’ Pat Stryker, an heir to Stryker Medical Equipment, and Education Reform Now Advocacy.

Stryker is a long-time funder of Democratic causes in Colorado, including in 2004, when she and Polis were among of the “Gang of Four” that helped finance the takeover of the Colorado House by Democrats. Since 2006, she has given more than $7.4 million to Democratic-aligned causes, according to TRACER, the state’s campaign finance database.  

Education Reform Now Advocacy is a New York-based 501(c)3 that partners with Democrats for Education Reform. Both groups are known for backing charter schools and opposition to teacher unions. DFER was started in 2007 by New York hedge fund managers. 

Since 2010, Education Reform Now and its affiliates have contributed more than $13.5 million to Democratic-aligned causes, as well as to independent expenditure committees that back Democratic candidates for the Colorado General Assembly. DFER has made tens of thousands of dollars in contributions directly to Democratic candidates in Colorado over the same time period.

Another donation came from Boldly Forward, which started out as Polis’ transition committee in 2018 but has since moved on to advocacy on issues, such as early childhood education, lowering the cost of health care and fiscal reform. Its contributions to issue committees so far stood at $110,000, including $50,000 to the “yes” committee on Proposition HH.  

Its contribution to the “yes” committee is the first since 2020.

Among the contributors is the Colorado Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, which has contributed tens of millions of dollars to Democratic candidates and issues aligned with Democratic values.

The last contributor on the “yes” campaign’s list is the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a group that doesn’t identify its funders and is based in Washington, D.C.

In the last decade, the group has contributed $22 million to Democratic-aligned causes in Colorado and independent expenditure committees backing Democratic candidates for the state legislature. The Atlantic in 2021 called the group’s administrator, Arabella Advisors, “the indisputable heavyweight of Democratic dark money.”

Two issue committees have been formed to oppose Proposition HH: No on HH and the TABOR Coalition. The former has yet to report any contributions, while the latter has reported total contributions of $1,639 from 15 individuals as of July 27.

The conservative group Advance Colorado filed a lawsuit challenging the ballot measure and the legislation behind it for violating the single-subject rule. That lawsuit was dismissed in June.

Advance Colorado and its allies, including several Republican-led counties and commissioners, plan to appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court.