Colorado has exhausted Ref C's financial bounce, group says

By Chris Barge, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 19, 2007 at 12:30 a.m.

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David Balmer

Carol Hedges

Referendum C has given Colorado all of the financial bump it can provide, a left-leaning group studying the state government's economic future has concluded.

A report by the group says that lawmakers therefore will have to cut services or find new revenue sources to achieve many of Gov. Bill Ritter's ambitious new goals.

"In other words, 2007 is as good as it gets," the report said. "The question for all Colorado is whether that is good enough."

The report, "Looking Forward: Colorado's fiscal prospects after Ref C," was written by analysts from the Bell Policy Center, the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute and the Colorado Children's Campaign.

It was released Tuesday in part to give a new perspective on reports that Referendum C, which allows the state to keep money that would have been refunded to taxpayers, has turned into a $6 billion windfall for government over the five years the voter-approved measure is in effect.

If the state wants to expand programs for health care, education, transportation or veterans; create a rainy day fund; or eliminate the waiting list for developmentally disabled adults to receive state services, it won't find the money by simply extending Ref C, said Carol Hedges, a senior fiscal analyst for the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute.

"Now we're at a point where there is no more bounce," she said.

The report could help Ritter and his fellow Democrats in the legislature's leadership if they decide to push for a tax hike next session. The governor's initial response, however, was measured.

"We look forward to reading the 'Looking Forward' report and listening to what people have to say about it," said Ritter's spokesman, Evan Dreyer.

Wade Buchanan, president of Bell, said the report was intended to seed a discussion for Colorado voters about whether they want to expand state services. It also was meant to show voters that Colorado's fiscal shortfalls have to be addressed comprehensively, since more funding for one program always means less for another.

House Assistant Minority Leader David Balmer said Coloradans will not take kindly to seeing another tax hike on the ballot four years after barely approving Ref C.

"That was seen by many voters as an important step and what they viewed as the only tax increase they wanted to vote for in the foreseeable future," the Centennial Republican said. "If the Democrats think that angry voters are going to pass another tax increase, they are miscalculating."

• December 19, 2007

  9:24 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  jacka writes:

  $6 billion windfall, wtf!

  How about some accountability because my $1500 contribution (probably more like $4000 based on my adjusted gross income) to this multi-year government revenue windfall is not apparent to the spouse, the kids or meself.

  What up?

  Best from soon to be former denver dems who didn't buy into Hickenloopers latest tax scam to feed affluent intitutions like botanical garden, museum and repair roads he failed to clear on time.

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