TABOR Will Be on the Lakewood Ballot
with contributing author Joan from Lakewood
On August 12, 2024, Lakewood City Council voted to approve a ballot measure that will permanently suspend TABOR limitations for Lakewood. All City Council spoke in favor of the measure except for Council Member Rich Olver, the sole nay vote.
There was some Council discussion about whether to include a sunset or not but in the end, the vote was to suspend refunds permanently. The Lakewood City Attorney cited a court case that would allow this permanent suspension. Lakewood’s previous suspension was only temporary.
A presentation by the Magellan consultants, who were hired to do a survey of Lakewood residents, claimed that 52 percent of the citizens were in favor of this policy.
There were three people that testified in person about this resolution: one in enthusiastic favor and two against. Online comments were almost evenly split.
This even split reflects the Magellan findings. On the other hand, 90% of Council supported the resolution.
One member of the public questioned the timing of this resolution being voted on the last week before school starts, thinking that was the reason there was not more feedback. Author Joan from Lakewood believes that most citizens feel the Lakewood City Council does not listen to public comment and that after spending $74, 000 it was a baked in vote.
From Bob Adams on Nextdoor.com:
“On July 12, the Lakewood City Council met in a public meeting to vote on a ballot proposal to allow them to keep and spend all excess funds they over collected with our 2024 property tax billing. By law, these excess funds would normally be refunded to us as required by TABOR. I Listened to the meeting on YouTube.. How could they over collect taxes? The County Assessor did a reappraisal in 2023 as required by State law. Overall, the appraised value of all properties increased by about 37%. This will happen again in 2025. By State law, the City Council is supposed to adjust the mill levy so the overall revenue equals the City budget. Governor Polis also sent a letter asking them to reduce the mill levy. They failed to do so. Instead, they intentionally kept a higher mill levy knowing full well they would collect millions of excess dollars. (about $8 million in 2024)”
That post includes a healthy discussion of the issue, along with a similar post by Wendy Shrader, who provided public comments on Monday.
More from LakewoodSpeaks.org
Argument in favor: “I strongly urge the City Council to approve this resolution because it empowers the voters to decide whether we should retain revenue from existing taxes for the most important city funding priorities.” – Kip Kolkmeier
“I support investing in Lakewood, and I support putting it to a vote from all residents.” – Joshua Comden
Argument against: “I personally enjoy my rights afforded by Tabor and generally opt to retain limits on revenue, as I think this is an effective method to ensure government thinks creatively and soberly how best to spend the revenue it does have.” – Michael Newman
“TABOR is the single best gift we voters have ever given ourselves and future generations.” – John Mohatt
The ballot language will be:
WITHOUT INCREASING CURRENT TAXES OR ADDING ANY NEW TAX, SHALL THE CITY OF LAKEWOOD, COLORADO, BE AUTHORIZED TO COLLECT, RETAIN AND SPEND THE FULL AMOUNT OF CITY TAXES AND ALL OTHER REVENUE COLLECTED FROM ALL SOURCES IN 2026 AND EACH YEAR THEREAFTER, IN EXCESS OF THE REVENUE AND SPENDING LIMITATIONS IN ARTICLE X, SECTION 20, OF THE COLORADO CONSTITUTION, AND SHALL SUCH EXCESS REVENUE BE SPENT ONLY AS FOLLOWS:
ONE-THIRD FOR PARKS, RECREATION AND OPEN SPACE;
ONE-THIRD FOR PUBLIC SAFETY-RELATED EQUIPMENT, SERVICES
AND/OR PERSONNEL; AND
ONE-THIRD FOR THE MAINTENANCE AND IMPROVEMENT OF STREETS,
SIDEWALKS, PATHS AND INFRASTRUCTURE.
AND SHALL ALL SUCH EXCESS REVENUES BE MAINTAINED AND PRESENTED IN A SEPARATE BUDGET OR ACCOUNT OF THE CITY OF LAKEWOOD, COLORADO, TO PROVIDE FOR OVERSIGHT BY THE CITIZENS OF LAKEWOOD TO ENSURE THE EXCESS FUNDS ARE USED SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSES DESCRIBED ABOVE?
YES ________
NO ________
Scorecard: Approve Ballot Initiative to Permanently Suspend TABOR
Strom: Aye
Shahrezaei: Aye
Sinks: Aye
Mayott-Guerrero: Aye
Cruz: Aye
Stewart: Aye
Low: Aye
Olver: Nay
Rein: Aye
LaBure: Aye
Nystrom: Aye
