Budget and Taxes
There is a fundamental divide growing at the State Capitol between the tax-and-spend politicians who have an insatiable desire for more of your money and the responsible public servants who want to preserve the basic taxpayer protections that have helped keep Colorado from becoming a fiscal basket case like California or New York.
As State Treasurer, I will be an unfailing advocate for taxpayers’ rights. We must constantly remind elected officials in both parties that there is no such thing as “government money.” It is the taxpayers’ money, and we have an obligation to watch every dollar as though it was our own.
There is nothing more loathed by the tax-spenders at the State Capitol than the protections contained in our Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR). Though it has been eroded steadily over the years, TABOR still limits the growth of government and provides taxpayers with the right to vote on whether taxes should be increased. Coupled with the Arveschoug-Bird 6 percent limit on the annual growth of the state budget, Colorado enforces fiscal discipline and forces tough but necessary choices.
Yet tax-spenders in both parties are working to eliminate the 6 percent cap. Even worse, Governor Bill Ritter and, in particular, Treasurer Cary Kennedy advocated and managed to institute a massive property tax hike –without a vote of the people.
Not satisfied with the flawed Colorado Supreme Court decision that rubber-stamped that illicit property tax increase, the tax-spenders mined the decision and “discovered” authority for yet another way to raise taxes without a vote of the people –this time by removing long standing tax exemptions and tax credits. In fact, these tax-spenders now feel emboldened to attempt to go after $500 million in reserves of Pinnacol Assurance–a private company.
For the tax-spenders, there will never be enough money to satisfy government’s hunger or the tax spenders’ desire to use your tax dollars to fund their pet programs.
The basic question that, when answered, separates the taxpayers from the tax-spenders is this: If you are paying more money to the government, have your taxes gone up? Taxpayers, as they reach for their wallets, say yes. Tax-spenders, say no, cloaking their tax increases as “freezes” or “fee increases.”
The State Treasurer has a fundamental obligation to stand up for taxpayers, not tax-spenders. Without taxpayer protections, the spending interests at the Capitol will run through every dollar available, and come back and want more. The $700 million-plus deficit in this year’s state budget will look tiny in years to come–unless elected leaders, including a new State Treasurer, demand discipline and transparency. |