By The Denver Post Editorial Board
The Denver Post
Forty Republican legislators who signed a letter denouncing Gov. Bill Ritter's proposed "freeze" in property taxes may have actually done the Democratic chief executive a favor.
By turning what should be a fair-minded discussion of how to pay for public schools into a test of partisan zealotry, the Republicans reminded everyone that voters last fall entrusted majority Democrats with the responsibility to solve Colorado's basic problems.
Actually, Democrats didn't originate the freeze plan; Republicans did. A property tax freeze passed the GOP-controlled Senate in 2004 at the behest of Sens. Norma Anderson, R-Lakewood, and John Andrews, R-Centennial.
Andrews and Anderson didn't want to raise property taxes - and their freeze wouldn't have done that, any more than Ritter's would. But the Republican lawmakers did want to honor the wishes of voters in 175 of the state's 178 school districts who had voted to allow their schools to keep the revenue generated by their existing property taxes rather than cutting those mill levies. Such votes to freeze tax rates are allowed by the 1992 Taxpayer's Bill of Rights. But a 1994 school finance law effectively overturned those elections and forced schools to repeatedly cut property taxes even when when local citizens voted against such cuts. (No, we're not making this up.)
That goofy law also forced the state to fund an ever larger share of the K-12 budget, $2.9 billion this year or 64 percent of the total. That's almost $400 million more than the 50 percent share envisioned by the authors of the 1994 finance act. That growing burden on the state is the biggest reason Colorado has been unable to adequately fund other needs.
The Ritter plan, carried in the House by Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, would honor local voters' decisions by letting school districts keep an extra $55 million next year. The only alternative proposed by critics - selling the Colorado Lottery to private interests and putting the proceeds into a trust fund - would raise only an estimated $9 million in new money for K-12 education next year.
Selling off the lottery may be worth exploring, but it's no way to pay for schools.
Ritter's tax freeze proposal, like its Republican predecessor in 2004, is a giant step toward reforming the state budget and preserving local control of our schools. The legislature should adopt it.
The Denver Post
Forty Republican legislators who signed a letter denouncing Gov. Bill Ritter's proposed "freeze" in property taxes may have actually done the Democratic chief executive a favor.
By turning what should be a fair-minded discussion of how to pay for public schools into a test of partisan zealotry, the Republicans reminded everyone that voters last fall entrusted majority Democrats with the responsibility to solve Colorado's basic problems.
Why solve a problem yourself now when you can push it off onto someone else later? That's the same philosophy that pushed Colorado to teh brink of bankruptcy two years ago.In our opinion, it's time for the Democrats to do just that. Approving the "freeze" - which could reach the House floor Monday - would be a good start.
Actually, Democrats didn't originate the freeze plan; Republicans did. A property tax freeze passed the GOP-controlled Senate in 2004 at the behest of Sens. Norma Anderson, R-Lakewood, and John Andrews, R-Centennial.
Andrews and Anderson didn't want to raise property taxes - and their freeze wouldn't have done that, any more than Ritter's would. But the Republican lawmakers did want to honor the wishes of voters in 175 of the state's 178 school districts who had voted to allow their schools to keep the revenue generated by their existing property taxes rather than cutting those mill levies. Such votes to freeze tax rates are allowed by the 1992 Taxpayer's Bill of Rights. But a 1994 school finance law effectively overturned those elections and forced schools to repeatedly cut property taxes even when when local citizens voted against such cuts. (No, we're not making this up.)
That goofy law also forced the state to fund an ever larger share of the K-12 budget, $2.9 billion this year or 64 percent of the total. That's almost $400 million more than the 50 percent share envisioned by the authors of the 1994 finance act. That growing burden on the state is the biggest reason Colorado has been unable to adequately fund other needs.
The Ritter plan, carried in the House by Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, would honor local voters' decisions by letting school districts keep an extra $55 million next year. The only alternative proposed by critics - selling the Colorado Lottery to private interests and putting the proceeds into a trust fund - would raise only an estimated $9 million in new money for K-12 education next year.
Selling off the lottery may be worth exploring, but it's no way to pay for schools.
Ritter's tax freeze proposal, like its Republican predecessor in 2004, is a giant step toward reforming the state budget and preserving local control of our schools. The legislature should adopt it.
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