The Mother of All Unfunded Mandates
- January 13, 2010
FISCAL – Publications
- Home
- FISCAL – Publications
Colorado’s Competitive Standing to Attract Business0
- February 22, 2013
This paper explores a compilation of Colorado rankings from the “2013 State and Business Tax Climate Index.”
READ MOREPreventing Bankruptcy in State and Local Pension Plans in Colorado0
- August 22, 2012
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.
READ MOREAurora Food Tax Changes Respect TABOR Restriction0
- August 7, 2012
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.
READ MORE
Does Colorado Fail to Spend State Taxes on Services?0
- June 29, 2012
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,
READ MORE
so how could it be that support for government programs is so uniformly near the bottom?Gaylord-style corporate welfare is unconstitutional0
- June 20, 2012
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.
READ MORE
