Fees, Enterprises, and Colorado

This issue paper discusses how Colorado has created loopholes, such as fees and enterprises, to bypass the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR).
Denver sales tax measures: Too many, too much

The price tag to city residents and shoppers is just too high, threatening to make an already costly city among the most expensive in the country.
Colorado’s proposed pension reform is a missed opportunity

In November of 2016, Colorado’s Public Employees Retirement Association Board (PERA) realized it had a problem. Not only did the state’s public pension system have a current unfunded liability of $50 billion, but overly-optimistic expected returns and overly-pessimistic mortality tables would leave the plan at less than 20 percent funded in a couple of decades […]
PERA’s problems demand meaningful reform

Change is coming. The citizens of Colorado can choose to be its architects rather than its victims.
An opportunity for lawmakers to fix Colorado’s broken public pension system

Last fall, members of the Colorado Public Employee Retirement Association (PERA) got some bad news: the amortization periods for the public pension system’s two largest funds had ballooned dangerously. Under current assumptions, the state fund would not be fully funded for 55 years, and the even larger school fund would not be fully funded for 75 years.
PERA deserves an earful on its listening tour

Members and non-members alike should be prepared to ask PERA’s board some tough questions about their credibility.
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.