Traffic on West Colfax Avenue as seen from Federal Boulevard on Oct. 4, 2023. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America)
In a boon to state road construction and multimodal transportation projects, a slate of new fees on car registrations and gasoline is finally starting to make up for the declining spending power of the state gas tax.
The fees — passed by the legislature in 2021 — helped drive a 12.5% increase in transportation revenue last budget year, followed by an expected 8% jump this spending cycle, which began July 1.
And fees aren’t just growing faster than the 22-cent gas tax. They’ve now surpassed the fuel tax entirely.
The gas tax generated $649 million last budget year — about the same as in the 2017-18 budget year — while other road charges generated $776 million. By 2025-26, user charges are expected to top $900 million, while gas tax collections inch up to $677 million, according to Colorado Legislative Council staff forecasts.
There’s just one catch. Because most of the transportation fees aren’t exempt from state’s revenue limit under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, they’re also exacerbating the state’s budget crunch, according to state budget forecasts released last month. As a result, the more fees the state collects for transportation projects, the less general tax dollars it can spend on everything else.
Most of the fee growth can be traced to Senate Bill 260, which the legislature passed in 2021.
Charges include a 4-cent per gallon of gas road user fee that will increase to 8 cents by 2029; retail delivery and rideshare fees; and electric vehicle registration fees. Some of them generate money for TABOR-exempt enterprise funds, like Colorado’s bridge and tunnel maintenance program, but most of the new money is subject to the state revenue cap.
One thing to keep in mind: Lawmakers were aware the fees could have TABOR implications when they passed Senate Bill 260. To mitigate those effects, the measure also reversed a bipartisan 2017 deal that had lowered the TABOR cap by $200 million.
But times have changed. From 2012 to 2020, the state exceeded the TABOR limit only once, meaning fees rarely caused ripple effects for taxpayer refunds or the state budget as a whole.
Since then, it’s happened every year — and legislative forecasters expect it to keep happening through at least 2027.
THE IMPLICATIONS OF RISING FEES
In years without a TABOR surplus, the effects of the transportation charges are pretty straightforward. Coloradans pay additional charges when they fill up on gas or order things online or request a car on a rideshare app. That money helps fund state and local transportation projects.
But in years like this one when the state is over the cap — and every other year since 2020 — the road fees have some uneven effects.
From a state budgeting perspective, every additional dollar collected in transportation fees is one more dollar for transportation projects.
But to the extent that it triggers higher taxpayer refunds under TABOR, it’s also one less dollar that can be spent on other state services, like Medicaid, education and the criminal justice system. That trade-off is especially palpable this year, when lawmakers are facing $900 million in budget cuts.
From a taxpayer perspective, if the state exceeds the TABOR cap, every dollar paid in transportation fees is one more dollar that the legislature must return to taxpayers through refunds or income tax cuts. But not everyone benefits equally.
Gas taxes and road user fees are generally considered regressive, meaning lower-income families pay a higher share of their income on them than higher income earners do. But that only holds true to the extent that they own a car and drive; many lower income Coloradans don’t. A legislative analysis of the transportation bill couldn’t determine which demographic groups would wind up paying the highest costs under the measure.
But — to the extent that higher transportation fees come back to taxpayers in the form of higher TABOR refunds — it’s clear who will get the most money back: higher earners.
A legislative analysis released this summer found that under Colorado’s new TABOR refund mechanisms in House Bill 228, Coloradans who make more than $320,000 can expect close to $4,000 in TABOR refunds and income tax cuts over the next three years if they file jointly. Joint-filers who make $52,001 to $107,000 can expect to get back $747 on average.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo and Republican state Rep. Gabe Evans will debate at 6 p.m. tonight on 9News. Watch a stream here.
The Joint Budget Committee on Thursday will hold a special meeting on the state’s health care safety net to discuss the rise in uncompensated care and how it’s affecting medical providers. The meeting is set for 4:30 p.m. in House Committee Room 112 at the state Capitol.
The Legislative Audit Committee meets Oct. 14 at the Old Supreme Court.
“Colorado eight: You are going to decide who has the majority in the Congress going forward.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, talks with state Rep. Gabe Evans after a rally Sunday in Thornton. (Jesse Paul, The Colorado Sun)
Johnson’s visit to Colorado on Sunday was at least his second in recent months as he tries to shore up support for Evans and Republican Jeff Hurd, who is running to represent the 3rd Congressional District. His focus, however, is clearly on the 8th District.
“When you talk about the most important races in America, this is, indeed, a top five race,” Johnson said at the rally.
Some highlights from the event:
“Everyone in the country is watching this race very carefully. We’re really bullish on his chances of winning here,” Johnson told CBS Colorado in an interview.
“I talk about his resume all over the country,” Johnson said of Evans. “I use Gabe as an example of the high quality people that we have recruited that are running this cycle.”
“Gabe Evans is never going to go on TV and embarrass you,” Johnson said in what could have been interpreted as a dig at U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Windsor, who didn’t attend the rally. “He’s never going to say anything (where you go) ‘oh, dear, what is my representative doing?’”
Evans pitched his race as the best chance for Republicans to push back on Democratic control in Colorado.“This is truly our chance to drive the pendulum back towards center,” he said.
Evans focused on crime, immigration and the cost of living during his speech, attacking his Democratic opponent, U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, for the votes she took on drug and energy policy in the state legislature.
Of note: U.S. Rep. Greg Lopez, R-Elizabeth, was in the audience. He wasn’t acknowledged by Johnson during his speech, though U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Nebraska, who was traveling with Johnson, got a shout-out.
8TH DISTRICT SPENDING
The Congressional Leadership Fund, the Republican super PAC associated with Johnson, reported spending about $2.5 million on the 8th District race through Saturday. A spokeswoman for the group said it planned to spend another $1 million on TV ads in the district above the $5 million it had already reserved.
Open Secrets, the nonpartisan campaign finance tracking website, says outside spending in the race has surpassed $10 million, with the CLF being the biggest spender. About $6.5 million of that sum has gone to help Caraveo.
America PAC, which is tied to billionaire Elon Musk, had upped its spending in the district in support of Evans to $330,000 as of Friday.
Want to reach Colorado political influencers and support quality local journalism? The Sun can help get your message attention through a sponsorship of The Unaffiliated, the must-read politics and policy newsletter in Colorado. Contact Sylvia Harmon at [email protected] for more information.
4TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Democrat Trisha Calvarese is running her second TV ad in the 3rd Congressional District. The 30-second spot features Calvarese talking about her experience providing end-of-life care to her parents.
“We can’t let Lauren Boebert’s cruelty win here,” Calvarese says in the ad.
INTERIM COMMITTEE BILLS
Last week was the deadline for interim committees to refer bills to the Colorado Legislative Council for introduction in the next legislative session. Ten interim committees advanced nearly 50 bills for consideration, including eight each from the Water Resources and Agriculture Review Committee and the Wildfire Matters Review Committee. The Colorado Legislative Council Committee meets Oct. 15 to consider whether to approve the bills for introduction in January.
DISTRICT ATTORNEY VACANCY
A state vacancy panel is soliciting applications to replace District Attorney Seth Ryan in the 7th Judicial District in western Colorado. Former Gov. Bill Ritter headlines the panel, announced Friday by Gov. Jared Polis. Ryan, a Republican, was running unopposed for reelection in November. He resigned effective Oct. 31, citing staffing challenges and withdrew from the race. The vacancy panel will help Polis replace Ryan through the end of his term, which is up in early January, while the Republican Party gets to choose a replacement nominee for the November election.
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John Hickenlooper, Brittany Pettersen on Proposition 131
U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colorado, speaks at a reproductive rights rally in Denver on Monday. (Jesse Paul, The Colorado Sun)
We caught up Monday with U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, who expanded on why he endorsed Proposition 131 despite opposition from others in his party, including Colorado Democratic Party Chairman Shad Murib.
“I do understand where Shad is coming from,” he said. “They’ve done well with the status quo. I think that the Democratic Party here in Colorado is a model for the country of how to get good candidates, create a policy that is relatively moderate, and try to do more things for all people. But I think that open primaries, long term, makes a democracy even stronger.”
Hickenlooper said his entrance into politics as a 49-year-old brewpub owner was more or less thanks to open primaries. He became Denver’s mayor under the city’s nonpartisan top-two runoff system, in which if no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters advance to a runoff.
“I think it will get more people interested in politics and make them more aware. I think that’s a big deal,” he said. “I think we get more diverse people from more diverse backgrounds to get into politics and to run for office.”
Hickenlooper rejected arguments from Murib and others that Proposition 131, which would enact all-candidate primaries followed by ranked choice general elections, would invite more dark money into Colorado politics.
“I don’t see how this makes that big a difference there,” he said.
U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Lakewood, told The Unaffiliated she’s not sure how she will vote on Proposition 131.
“I think that there’s a lot of outstanding questions on it,” she said. “I think it’s going to pass. I appreciate the intent of ranked choice, but I think the implementation piece — there’s a lot of questions on how well we can actually implement this. We have one of the most accessible and secure elections in this country, so I worry if we are adding complexity.”
WATCH: Missed our panel on Proposition 131 at SunFest? You can watch a recording here.
HICKENLOOPER OPPOSES SLAUGHTERHOUSE BAN
Hickenlooper also offered that he opposes Ordinance 309, the Denver ballot measure that would ban current and future slaughterhouses in the city.
Right now, there is only one slaughterhouse in Denver: the employee-owned Superior Farms, which has slaughtered, processed and packaged lambs and lamb meat at its location near the Platte River and Western Stock Show complex since the 1950s.
“The business has been there for 70 years,” said Hickenlooper, a Denver resident. “I understand the people that are against it, and there’s nothing attractive about a slaughterhouse, but the vast majority of Coloradans eat meat. We’re one of the lamb centers of the country.”
He said if Superior Farms closes, those jobs will likely move out of state. The lambs that would have been slaughtered in Denver will still be slaughtered, just somewhere else.
“It’s hard for me to take someone’s business away like that,” Hickenlooper said.
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Publish date : 2024-10-08 04:20:00
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