Taxpayers vs. Taxers

It’s Easier to Tax than to Trim Government Waste & Excess

by: David White

Early success by the Trump Administration and Elon Musk in cleaning house at the Federal level in many areas through their Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.) gave us hope that we’d see some of the same thing happen as an organic outcropping of support for their efforts in all 50 states.

While efficiency efforts occurred in several states, Colorado’s legislature and Governor didn’t even come close to embracing the merits of what was behind the D.O.G.E. movement. Instead, they’ve ratcheted up their efforts to increase the size of government and they’ve made it clear that they’re going to raise taxes to do it by trying to invalidate the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) which voters approved in 1992 as an amendment to the State Constitution to control the growth of government. TABOR limits the amount of revenue governments in the state can retain and spend and requires excess revenue to be refunded to taxpayers if not approved by voters. The TABOR limit "base" is equal to the lesser of the prior fiscal year's revenue limit grown by Colorado inflation and population growth, or the current fiscal year's revenue.

This last legislative session saw an effort by Rep. Sean Camacho (a Denver Democrat) to sponsor a resolution to require the General Assembly to sue over the constitutionality of TABOR which he introduced in early April, a month before the end of the 2025 Legislative Session. A month later, Colorado Democrats decided that they would not pursue a lawsuit to try and invalidate this 1992 voter-approved amendment to the state constitution. However, as House Majority Leader Monica Duran (Democrat from Wheat Ridge) said at a news conference after the decision was made, “At the end of the day, we just have to look at the timing that we have available.” Duran said it’s likely the effort will be back in some form next session, adding, “Sometimes, it takes a couple of tries.” (See the following for reference: Democratic lawmakers prepare to sue over constitutionality of Colorado's TABOR | News | coloradopolitics.com and Colorado Democrats won’t pursue a lawsuit to invalidate TABOR after all | AspenTimes.com)

Michael Fields, president of Advance Colorado Institute, told the online newspaper Colorado Politics, that with the federal courts ruling against the plaintiffs, "liberal legislators" are exploring the state courts "to get rid of TABOR entirely." "This isn’t a new tactic. They tried to do the same thing in federal court over a decade ago, and in 2021, they lost that case on the merits," Fields said. 

Fields continued…"So, what we have is Democratic lawmakers wasting taxpayers’ dollars to go after a 33-year-old Constitutional measure that has a 70% approval rating. The real story here is the divide between legislators and the people on TABOR, and also the divide within the Democratic Party."

And so it goes. Fiscally challenged Democrat lawmakers and no doubt some Republican ones too, will spend your money to take more of your money. But do they really need to do this? I say that they don’t because they figured out years ago how to get more out of your wallet every year without even bothering to ask you. And how do they do this? It’s called “fees.” And boy, do we have plenty of those!

Tax hikes are a non-starter for most voters who will turn on elected officials very quickly when confronted with having to pay more in taxes. But with fees, they’ll never tell you that you’ve been hit with a tax increase even though that’s exactly what the outcome is equivalent to.

According to the Common Sense Institute of Colorado (https://www.commonsenseinstituteus.org/colorado/) in a study that they released in August of 2024, the following are well researched facts on what “fees” have done to us in Colorado:

• In the first year following the passage of TABOR, fee-based enterprises generated $742 million. By 2023, their revenue had increased by over 3,000%, far beyond population growth (62%), to $23.3 billion.

• In 1996, only 46% of total state spending was TABOR-exempt—$5,027 per Coloradan in 2023 dollars. In 2023, 71% of state spending was exempt, amounting to $8,442 per Coloradan.

•       Proposition 117, which requires new enterprises projected to generate revenue above a threshold to receive voter approval, passed in 2020. Since then, the legislature has directly established eight new enterprises and expanded a pre-existing one, costing Coloradans a total of $88.3 million in FY23.

• If all of Colorado’s fee enterprises, minus higher education, were instead funded by the state income tax, the state income tax would increase to 7.68%, a 75% increase from the current rate of 4.4%.

• In 2000, enterprises collected $222 per Coloradan and the General Fund received $1,174 per resident. By 2023, these amounts had grown to $3,791 and $2,360, respectively—for every $1 increase in General Fund revenue per Coloradan since 2008, total fee collections rose by $3.10.

• Since 2018, voters have approved two income tax cuts for a combined .23 percentage point reduction. At the same time, fee-based revenue to enterprises has increased by an amount equal to a .51 percentage point increase in the state income tax netting an INCREASE in taxation equal to .28 percentage point increase in taxes paid.

The policies of the Democratically controlled Governor’s Office and State Legislature over the last 20 years have brought about a decided shift in our economic makeup and balance. Since TABOR was passed in 1992, not only has our population doubled, but an economy primarily fueled by the sale of tangible goods (70%) has flipped to a service-driven market (now nearing 70%). Production of fossil fuels and mined minerals, once the source of abundant state income that used to fund our communities, has gone away as an environmentally driven “earth first” agenda took control of the decision-making process. Fear and loathing of these industries alone have created much of the fiscal mess we find ourselves in along with many socialist policies that will soon lead to a state-wide fiscal bankruptcy if something isn’t done.

Challenging the TABOR Amendment (again), isn’t going to fix this. A D.O.G.E. like effort is demanded. Elimination of outdated and restrictive laws along with reviving the energy sector in Colorado will go a long way to resolve the current and coming fiscal crisis created by the mismanagement of our state’s budget by our elected officials.

All I can say is that you, the public and those of you who vote, need to demand accountability and action now. More taxes and fees will do nothing but make people more dependent on the government and force those with the means to leave the state. That’s not a viable solution to what plagues us. A philosophical change will help as well as a fundamental understanding of economics. Unfortunately, most legislators do not possess the will or desire to change or develop either. Eventually the pendulum will swing the other way. Until then, hold on for a bumpy ride.

Mr. White is an active citizen & community leader as well as a business owner, entrepreneur, former Colorado Springs City Councilor and Montrose City Councilor as well as Montrose Mayor. He was a two-term Montrose County Commissioner and has served on many boards and commissions during his career. He & his wife are the parents of six children and have 10 grandchildren & one great grandchild.