In the last three weeks, backers and critics of the proposal offering property tax relief using state refund dollars were practically neck and neck in raising money through their campaign finance committees that seek to persuade voters to back the measure in next week’s election.

Proposition HH will ask voters next week whether to use Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights surplus revenue – which is usually refunded to taxpayers – to reduce property taxes, fund school districts and backfill counties, water districts, fire districts, ambulance or hospital districts and other local governments.

Property Tax Relief Now raised about $2.5 million through Oct. 30, while the anti-Prop HH committees collectively raised about $2.37 million. 

However, another $566,000 has been spent on TV and newspaper ads by the anti-Prop HH group Advance Colorado Action and not through their committee, No on HH. That spending is reported separately to the Secretary of State’s office. 

That boost for the pro-Prop HH campaign came courtesy of several “dark money” groups, including the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which contributed $350,000 on Oct. 20. That brought the group’s contribution total to $600,000.

A “dark money” group does not publicly disclose its funders. The Sixteen Thirty Fund is tied to Democratic causes and candidates. In the past decade, it has contributed almost $22.5 million to Democratic-backed campaigns in Colorado. 

Another “dark money” entity, Education Reform Now Advocacy, also made substantial contributions in the past three weeks – giving $350,000. That brought total contributions from the group, which is tied to Democrats for Education Reform, to $650,000 for the pro-Prop HH campaign.

Education Reform Now Advocacy has contributed almost $13 million in the past 13 years to campaigns. Democrats for Education Reform is a pro-charter, anti-teacher union group founded by New York hedge fund managers.

The “yes” committee also received a $50,000 donation from Campaign for Great Public Schools, which is also a “dark money” group led by billionaire John Arnold and which has also made contributions to Education Reform Now.

Campaign for Great Public Schools is tied to the City Fund, which has deployed hundreds of thousands of dollars into backing committees that support candidates in the Denver Public Schools board races. The City Fund’s co-founder, Reed Hastings, who is also the founder of Netflix, has called for the elimination of publicly-elected school boards in the next 20 to 30 years. The City Fund also gives money to the American Federation for Children, previously known as the Alliance for School Choice, which was founded by the DeVos family.

Gary Advocacy, the policy arm for Gary Community Ventures, kicked in $100,000 to Property Tax Relief Now in the past week.

The committee had its best fundraising cycle of the campaign season, raising $760,365 since Oct. 12, according to the Secretary of State’s campaign finance database.

On the anti-Prop HH side, No on HH so far secured $1.96 million during the election cycle, including $301,000 since Oct. 12.

“Dark money” entities also dominate the committee’s funders, with Advance Colorado Action and Ready Colorado as major contributors. Both groups put in $150,000 each in the most recent reporting cycle.

Out of the $1.96 million raised, $1.9 million came from “dark money” groups. 

Meanwhile, Americans for Prosperity Colorado Issue Committee raised just under $60,000 in the most recent cycle, bringing its total – all in non-monetary contributions from the dark money group Americans for Prosperity – to $375,000. 

Taxpayers for a Better Deal, funded by the “dark money” Independence Institute, has raised and spent $14,748, all from in-kind contributions from the Institute. The final “no” group, the TABOR Coalition, raised a total of $17,361, including $13,500 from “dark money” groups in the most recent cycle, including the TABOR Committee, the TABOR Foundation and the Colorado Union of Taxpayers Foundation.

Another measure from the legislature, which would only be implemented if Proposition HH passes, would provide a one-time only equalized TABOR refund to all taxpayers, paid next April when tax filings are due. 

Under the measure, TABOR refunds would, beginning the following year, be reduced over the next decade and potentially beyond that.

Under current law, TABOR refunds are first paid to cover senior and veteran property tax homestead exemptions; next through a temporary reduction in the state income tax; and, if any money is left, through a six-tiered sales tax refund with annual tax filings.