Denver, Colorado Sales Taxes Increased Without Voter Consent
Denver’s 2021 budget reveals that the city expects to collect $14 million in new sales tax revenues this year by taking advantage of a 2018 United States Supreme Court ruling for the first time. The State of Colorado began collecting new sales tax revenues under the same scheme in 2019. These tax increases have come […]
“True Colorado”—Educating newcomers about Colorado values
When asked to list Colorado values, Lemon mentions . . . .self-reliance[,] neighborly assistance, personal freedom, local control, love of the outdoors, health and fitness, and friendliness toward strangers. He further emphasizes the state’s tradition of entrepreneurship
Colorado Supreme Court rules against TABOR—Again!
If you read enough Colorado Supreme Court TABOR opinions, you notice . . . motifs: (1) taxpayers always lose, (2) the court’s opinions are often evasive . . . , and (3) after creating an anti-TABOR precedent, the justices then stretch it to create even more anti-TABOR precedents.
Brexit isn’t the only example of elites undoing ballot measures
[D]uring the 1970s conservatives began to use initiatives to limit government power. . . . Judges seemed to think this was a threat, and judicial attitudes toward ballot measures began to change.
In Blue Colorado, the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights matters more than ever
In Colorado, the recent election reaffirms the right of citizens to have the final say on proposals to increase taxes or debt.
Join the TABOR offensive!
The Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights is universally despised, neigh, deplored by every tax-happy progressive around the country. Ever wonder why it’s like sunlight to a vampire to them, and why they’ve weakened it in court-ruling after court-ruling for 25 years? Then please join us on Monday, April 23, in Colorado Springs for our first stop […]
Judge Gorsuch and the Independence Institute
The Independence Institute has specific reason to celebrate the nomination of Judge Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. In 2011, a group of anti-TABOR plaintiffs sued in Denver federal court, arguing that TABOR violated the U.S. Constitution because it was inconsistent with the Constitution’s guarantee that every state have a “republican form of government.” (Kerr v. […]
New Video on TABOR—the Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights
Fred Holden (below) and Rob Natelson, both Senior Fellows at the Independence Institute, talk about the famous Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights in this interview.
TABOR: All About the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights
Rules limiting the legislature’s ability to tax, spend, and/or incur debt appear in the U.S. Constitution and in the constitutions of almost all states. But probably the most famous and most controversial is Colorado’s “Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights,” or TABOR. TABOR gives the people, voting in referenda, the final say on most state and local […]
Anti-TABOR lawsuit almost gone, and it’s about time
This article originally appeared in the Denver Post. The 2011 federal lawsuit to void the Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) is finally all but over. The U.S. Court of Appeals had twice permitted the case of Kerr vs. Hickenlooper to proceed — but felt compelled to modify its decision after the Supreme Court told […]
