Will increasing Colorado’s top income tax bracket by 27 percent affect incomes?
At present, everyone in Colorado pays the same marginal income tax rate, 4.63 cents out of every additional taxable dollar earned. Colorado officials and their allied interest groups support a constitutional amendment both to increase the state’s income tax and to create two tax brackets. They say the additional funding will improve K-12 education, although […]
Denver’s proposed disposable bag ‘fee’ obviously a tax
Members of the Denver City Council are proposing an ordinance that would impose a 5-cent charge on disposable (paper and plastic) bags used to carry purchases at point of sale at grocery and convenience stores with “over 1500 square feet” of retail space. Proponents call this bag charge a “fee.” But with even a little […]
The Colorado Government Pension System Introduction and Basic Organization
Colorado’s Public Employee Retirement Association (PERA) is the State’s largest pension plan, with more than 483,000 members as of 2011. Government contributions exceeded $1 billion in FY2011.
A Thumbnail Guide to Colorado State Government’s Spending Problem
Colorado state government has a spending problem. Although inflation-adjusted per capita personal income in Colorado is still below its 2003 level, state spending has risen every year since 1999. State tax revenue has risen, but it cannot keep up with the spending.
Colorado’s Competitive Standing to Attract Business
This paper explores a compilation of Colorado rankings from the “2013 State and Business Tax Climate Index.”
Preventing Bankruptcy in State and Local Pension Plans in Colorado
State and local governments report the funding status of their pension plans in financial statements following standards set by the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB). Historically, those standards allowed state and local governments to use an actuarial model and to discount liabilities based on the long-term yield on the assets held in the pension fund. The Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association (PERA) uses an 8 percent discount rate comparable to that used in most state and local pension plans. GASB also allowed state and local governments to use a smoothing technique to calculate the funding status of the plans. With this smoothing technique, losses incurred on assets in one year could be averaged over several years.
Aurora Food Tax Changes Respect TABOR Restriction
The City of Aurora amended its sales tax regulations related to candy and soft drinks, as a response to concerns raised by Aurora grocery retailers. The 2012 ordinance amendment has the appearance of a tax increase but further analysis concludes the tax policy change is likely to be “revenue neutral,” And therefore does not require voter approval under TABOR.
Does Colorado Fail to Spend State Taxes on Services?
Policy debates frequently turn on whether the government is spending at a reasonable level, and that is defined by the relative spending in other states. Relatively low rankings are presumed to indicate of under-spending by Colorado governments. The low rankings, however, are inconsistent with Colorado’s overall ranking for tax burden, which is close to the national median. We examine many claims relating to Colorado government spending overall, in K-12 education, in higher education, and in healthcare, and we conclude that most are misinterpreted or overstated. Colorado collects the national average in taxes,
so how could it be that support for government programs is so uniformly near the bottom?
Gaylord-style corporate welfare is unconstitutional
By what authority can the state government take tax money out of your pocket and give it away to a private corporation? The answer is that corporate welfare schemes, such as so-called “public-private partnerships,” flagrantly violate the Colorado Constitution.
Solving the Funding Crises in PERA
The paper is based on testimony presented to the Senate Finance Committee regarding the soundness of the Public Employees Retirement Association fund. Dr. Poulson recommends steps to fix the actuarial problems, and modifying the retirement.
Unfunded Liabilities in PERA’s Health Plan Accumulate
by Penn Pfiffner and Barry Poulson This legislative session Colorado HB1250 was introduced to begin addressing an unfunded billion-dollar liability in the Public Employee Retirement Association’s (PERA) retiree health care benefit program. Its own sponsor then killed the bill after it came under a fire storm of hysteria-tinged and false criticisms, fueled by one-sided media […]
An Analysis Of Proposition 103
Colorado’s Proposition 103 will raise state taxes $532 million in the first year and about $2.9 billion in the first five years. It proposes to raise the income tax rate on individuals and families, as well as small businesses, and simultaneously to raise the state sales tax rate. Proposition 103 is the only state issue on this fall’s ballot.
