WEEK OF MAY 18, 2023
VOLUME 78 | ISSUE 30
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TRAFFIC STOPPERS
Legislature asks voters to approve 10-year property tax relief plan BY JESSE PAUL AND ELLIOTT WENZLER THE COLORADO SUN
Colorado voters will decide in November whether to approve a 10-year plan to rein in skyrocketing property taxes, as well as whether the state should distribute about $2 billion in Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights refunds checks next year in equal amounts rather than linking their size to people’s income level, with more money being sent to higher earners. The questions were placed on the November ballot on May 8 by Democrats in the Colorado legislature as the General Assembly wrapped up its 120day lawmaking term. The legislature worked until about 10 p.m., just before its 11:59 p.m. deadline, to complete its work, when the Capitol carriage turns back into a pumpkin. The last few hours of the session were chaotic, with Republicans walking out of the House chamber in protest, Democrats in the House lambasting each other and the Senate limiting debate to stop a GOP filibuster. The property tax plan, pushed for by Gov. Jared Polis, will appear on the ballot as Proposition HH and would work by tamping down the effect of rising residential and commercial property values on the tax burden for homeowners and businesses. Here’s how it would work for residential property:
• The residential assessment rate
This mural, created by Westminster High School 9th grader Miles Heitland will soon decorate a city traffic box at an intersection. It’s one of 15 designs picked. See more examples on page 5.
VOICES: 12 | LIFE: 14 | CALENDAR: 17 | SPORTS: 22
SEE TAXES, P18
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LEADING IN TRAILS
Navigating Colorado’s bicycle trail network
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