Proposition HH

Referred to the ballot by the Colorado General Assembly, the measure asks voters the following:

“Shall the state reduce property taxes for homes and businesses, including expanding property tax relief for seniors, and backfill counties, water districts, fire districts, ambulance and hospital districts, and other local governments and fund school districts by using a portion of the state surplus up to the proposition HH cap as defined in this measure?”

Argument by the “yes” campaign:

“Colorado home values increased by 40% on average and taxes are projected to increase by the same amount, leaving many families worried. Prop HH is the only way to stop this increase and provides immediate property tax relief that benefits everyone – and it provides extra targeted relief to those who need it the most, like seniors on fixed incomes and renters, while protecting funding for schools, fire districts and other public services. Prop HH would provide $1-1.6 billion in property tax relief every year for families, businesses, and seniors. HH provides targeted savings for seniors by expanding the Senior Homestead Exemption benefit and making it portable, allowing seniors to move without losing property tax savings. This cost-saving measure includes a modest adjustment to the TABOR cap, adding 1% annually, to ensure that local services continue to receive the funding they need to serve their communities. The math shows that the tax relief benefits to taxpayers are much higher than reduction in refunds. The average property tax savings is $500 per year and TABOR refunds will be reduced by $46 in 2024. Taxpayers are still estimated to receive up to $10,000 in their TABOR refund for the next decade.

Argument by the “no” campaign:

Proposition HH’s ballot language is purposefully misleading. Proponents of the measure don’t want voters to know that they would be losing up to $10 billion in TABOR tax refunds over the next decade. Eventually, TABOR tax refunds and “Colorado Cash Back” checks would go away entirely. Proposition HH is also not real property tax relief. If it passes, Coloradans will still see the largest property tax increase in state history – over $3 billion. By allowing residential property taxes to increase over 30% on average next year, senior citizens on a fixed income will be hurt the most. Just because homes go up in value doesn’t mean Colorado families have more money in their pockets to pay the higher property taxes. Proposition HH is also a blank check to politicians at the Capitol. There is no guarantee that the money will go where they say it will. While Coloradans are struggling to make ends meet, the state budget keeps growing and growing. It is already over $40 billion. Instead of allowing this huge increase, the governor and legislature should call a special session to cut or cap property taxes without taking away our TABOR tax refunds.

Proposition II

Referred to the ballot by the Colorado General Assembly, the measure asks voters the following:

“Without raising taxes, may the state retain and spend revenues from taxes on cigarettes, tobacco, and other nicotine products and maintain tax rate on cigarettes, tobacco, and other nicotine products and use these revenues to invest twenty-three million six hundred fifty thousand dollars to enhance the voluntary Colorado preschool program and make it widely available for free instead of reducing these tax rates and refunding revenues to cigarette wholesalers, tobacco product distributors, nicotine products distributors, and other taxpayers, for exceeding an estimate included in the ballot information booklet for proposition EE?”