Our role and the CO General Assembly's role in raising property taxes. What the Democrats are doing and NOT doing now to fix it. CDOT's Alternative Contract Delivery audit is in. It's not pretty.
If what you see in the videos below doesn't anger or frustrate you, it must be because you enjoy high taxes and people playing games with your money.
Part 1 of 2
Those that voted to repeal the Gallagher Amendment are partly responsible for the jump in property taxes, but that doesn't excuse what Colorado politicians have done.
And, yes, that includes politicians of both parties.
The two videos below (linked in order of their appearance) are a continuation in the series by Mr. Murrey about the coming property tax problems this state will face.
These two delve more into some of the causes of the problem. And, I have some bad news if you voted for the Gallagher Amendment: you are a part of that problem. Not the whole but a part.
I should clarify that I mean that in a way that allows for more understanding than might be apparent in the sentence above. What I mean (and this is something Mr. Murrey touches on in his video, albeit from a different angle) is that I think Coloradans got sold a bill of goods when the Assembly referred the measure to us to vote on.
I remember the ads and narrative in support of the repeal centering around fairness to commercial/ag interests (the Gallagher amendment keeps tax rates low on homeowners at the expense of business/ag), and the usual "won't someone think of the children" argument about how local governments won't get enough money to operate without its repeal. Mr. Murrey points out a bit of fancy footwork in the language/title of the ballot measure in his video.
So those that voted it in deserve some of the blame, but what else is there to the story?
There is the Assembly (and I say Assembly here instead of Democrats here because I want you to note that in both cases the efforts were bipartisan) kneecapping citizens' efforts to slow down property tax increases all the while passing meaningless "relief" funded with your tax dollars and then stepping in front of the cameras to tell you how much they're helping you.
As I said above, if you watch the videos below and don't find yourself upset, you must have more money lying around the house than I do.
Worth a watch and worth a share.
And now, Part 2 of 2...
What are Assembly Democrats doing now to help fix the property tax problem they helped create?
Well, not much: it must be nice to be comfortably in power. I say that because when you look at things that the current crop in power in this state have been devoting their time to (see the screenshot of some recent headlines), and then consider what they've done about property taxes thus far (see the first link below), it presents quite a picture.
Regardless of what you think about abortion, transgenders, guns do you, does any reasonable person, not rank an issue of such fundamental importance as the ability to afford to live in this state as highly?
Does affordability mean so little that we must go to the extraordinary length of shutting down debate in the state house in order to make sure that gun bills pass?
Does affordability mean so little that we must worry about abortion first?
I guess it depends.
It depends because way, way back when, March 9 to be precise, the Democrats did act on property taxes. They acted to quickly vote down a Republican-sponsored measure. See the attached screenshot from the bill's page below.
https://coloradosun.com/2023/03/29/colorado-property-tax-proposal-gallagher-amendment/
https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb23-1054
"[CDOT] paid $18 million more than independent cost estimates across all 27 CM/GC construction contracts for projects active in Fiscal Years 2021 and 2022."
"[CDOT] ...is not always consistent with accountability and transparency expectations under the Colorado Open Records Act."
A couple of quick notes from the long-awaited (I've been watching and asking for a long time now) State Auditor's report on CDOT's. The quotes above, and the attached screengrab both come from the audit report summary linked first below. If you want the full report, you'll find it linked second. If you want to read an article on the audit to give some more context, you'll find it third below.
This is your tax dollars at work. CDOT contracting with a preferred list of companies in a secret, no bid process. CDOT wasting money--and the numbers are staggering if you look at the attached screenshot. CDOT being, well, let's say, less than forthright about the whole thing.
Here's a couple questions for you to think over:
--While CDOT is deep in the business of making sure we have our green priorities straight, are they at all worried about your wallet and how they spend your money?
--CDOT has already (according to the audit) acted "in violation of statute" in their contracting process, do you suppose they'll follow the requirements newly imposed by 2021's SB 260? See screenshots 2 and 3 for a list of requirements. Do you suppose the Democrats running this state will do anything if they do (after all, they've not done anything til now)?
If this is a frustration for you as it is for me, I have some good news. You can speak up about it. Check out the fourth link below for information about the commission that runs CDOT. There are links to offer written comment if you'd like.
I encourage you to follow me in providing comment. I intend to virtually go to a live meeting and give mine in that venue, but written comment is also something you can do.
Speak up. It's your money.
p.s. Just a reminder, that CDOT commissioners are appointed by our governor. You might attach him on any written comment you provide.
https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2251p_alternative_delivery_contracting_methods_highlights.pdf
https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/audits/2251p_alternative_delivery_contracting_methods.pdf
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/state-agencies/httpscolorado-department-of-transportation-4-1-billion-in-spending-lacked-sound-policies-state-auditarticle/article_1f68f2e4-6815-521f-b14e-c68f243bc656.html
https://www.codot.gov/about/transportation-commission