’Who Are We?’

New curriculum educates people on Colorado’s female trailblazers

BY BRUCE GOLDBERG SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

Social studies teacher Kelly

Cvancier was determined to create a comprehensive curriculum that paid tribute to the dozens of women enshrined in the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame.

Cvancier teaches AP government, politics and civics for ninth graders

Legislature asks voters to approve 10year property tax relief plan

BY JESSE PAUL AND ELLIOTT WENZLER THE COLORADO SUN

Colorado voters will decide in November whether to approve a 10-year plan to rein in skyrocketing property taxes, as well as whether the state should distribute about $2 billion in Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights refunds checks next year in equal amounts rather than linking their size to people’s income level, with more money being sent to higher earners.

at Bear Creek High School in Lakewood. She is also a cultural partner of National History Day Colorado, something she’s been involved with since 1995. National History Day is a nonpro t education organization that exists to improve the teaching and learning of history.

“I think holistically, our students need to be challenged by something more than a sit-and-learn experience,” Cvancier said. “We need to make education personal as well as make it relevant.” e result of her determination is a well-researched, highly informative curriculum that the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame, in partner- ship with the University of ColoradoDenver and the Colorado Student Leaders Institute, unveiled in March.

Called “Who Are We?,” the curriculum serves to educate people about what makes Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame inductees worthy of entering the hall, and to explain who they are. It is meant to grab the attention of, and serve as a resource for, students, teachers and anyone with an interest in Colorado history.

“It is our hope that ‘Who Are We?’ will inspire future generations to recognize the important role of women in shaping history and encourage e questions were placed on the November ballot on May 8 by Democrats in the Colorado legislature as the General Assembly wrapped up its 120-day lawmaking term. e legislature worked until about 10 p.m., just before its 11:59 p.m. deadline, to complete its work, when the Capitol carriage turns back into a pumpkin. e last few hours of the session were chaotic, with Republicans walking out of the House chamber in protest, Democrats in the House lambasting each other and the Senate limiting debate to stop a GOP libuster. e property tax plan, pushed for by Gov. Jared Polis, will appear on the ballot as Proposition HH and would work by tamping down the effect of rising residential and commercial property values on the tax burden for homeowners and businesses.

Here’s how it would work for residential property:

• e residential assessment rate would be reduced to 6.7% from 6.765% in 2023, for taxes owed in 2024, and to 6.7% from 6.976% for taxes owed in 2025. e 6.7% rate would remain unchanged through the 2032 tax year, for taxes owed in 2033.

• In addition to the assessment rate cuts, residential property owners would get to exempt the rst $50,000 of their home’s value from taxation for the 2023 tax year, a $10,000 increase made through an amendment adopted Monday. Residential property owners would then get to exempt $40,000 of their homes’ values from taxation for the 2024 tax year. e break would persist until the 2032 tax year, except for people’s second or subsequent single-family homes, like rental or vacation properties, which would stop being subject to that bene t in the 2025 tax year.

Here’s how it work for commercial property: e state would be required to evaluate economic conditions to determine if the rate reduction should continue. If the rate reductions persist, the commercial assessment rate would be reduced to 27.65% in 2027, 26.9% in 2029 and 25.9% starting in 2031.

27.85% through 2026, down from 29%.

• For agricultural properties and properties used for renewable energy, the assessment rate would be reduced to 26.4% from 29% through the 2032 tax year. For properties that fall under both classi cations, such as those used for agrivoltaics, the rate would be cut to 21.9%.

Property taxes in Colorado are calculated by multiplying the statewide assessment rate by the value of a property — sometimes referred to as a market value — as determined by a e proposal would also prevent many local taxing districts from collecting an increase in property taxes above the rate of in ation, though school districts would be exempt and local governments could override the cap after giving notice to property owners. e change would reduce the amount of money available for refunds in years in which the cap is exceeded.

(A mill is a $1 payment on every $1,000 of assessed value. So in order to gure out what your tax bill is you should multiply your mill levy rate by 0.001 and then multiply that number by the product of multiplying your property’s value by the statewide assessment rate. at’s how much you owe.)

So, someone who owns a home valued at $600,000 and assessed at a 6.765% statewide residential assessment rate in a place where the mill levy rate is 75 would owe $3,044.25 in taxes each year. e formula to get to that number looks like this: $600,000 x 0.06765 x (75 x 0.001) = $3,044.25.

Utah has a similar system, and that’s what the provision in the Colorado proposal is modeled after.

To account for the cuts, the legislature is planning to spend $200 million to repay local governments, including schools, for the revenue they would have collected. Additionally, the plan calls for using about $250 million of the $2.7 billion Colorado is projected to collect in the current scal year, which ends June 30, above Taxpayer’s Bill or Rights cap on government growth and spending, to further account for local districts’ revenue reduction.

Additionally, voters would be asked in November to increase the TABOR cap, which is calculated by annual growth in population and in ation, by an extra 1%. (Any money collected over the cap has to be refunded.)

Finally, Proposition HH would set aside about $20 million each year to go toward a state renter relief program — a late addition to the measure aimed at acknowledging the proposal mostly bene ts property owners.

Proposition HH was placed on the ballot through the passage of Senate Bill 303, which was introduced a week ago. It passed the House on Monday by a 39-7 vote with 19 absent.

All 19 Republicans in the chamber were marked absent after they walked out of the chamber in protest as the vote was being taken and after Democrats shut down debate on the measure. Republicans are in a super minority in the House, so Democrats still had a quorum in their absence.

“Our citizens are really smart,” said Rep. Lisa Frizell, R-Castle Rock. “ ey understand that this proposal, this bill is a grand e ort to get rid of TABOR and their TABOR refunds.”

Rep. Mike Weissman, an Aurora Democrat and a lead sponsor of Senate Bill 303, said Colorado voters would ultimately decide whether they like the proposal.

“We don’t make the nal call,” he said. “ e voters do.” e measure passed on a 23-12, party-line vote and now awaits the governor’s signature after Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, RMonument, asked the governor to call a special session to take another stab at property tax relief in a way that doesn’t a ect TABOR refunds. e change would mean the lowest income Coloradans receive nearly $200 more than they were projected to get under the default system, while the state’s highest earners would get hundreds — if not more than 1,500 — dollars less. e measure was introduced on Saturday — the last possible day it could have been introduced in order to have the three calendar days needed to pass. It cleared the Senate on Monday on a 23-12 vote and was sent to Polis to be signed into law. e measure only goes into e ect, however, if Proposition HH passes. If Proposition HH fails, the money will be distributed through the default six-tier sales tax mechanism, adopted by a Republican legislature in 1999. e six-tier system refunds TABOR excess to Coloradans depending on which of six income tiers they fall into, with higher earners getting larger refunds and lower earners receiving less. Republicans, who are in the Capitol minority, fought Senate Bill 303 and House Bill 1311 and complained that they didn’t have enough time to vet the legislation because of how late in the lawmaking term the measures were introduced. is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media

When the bill moved to the Senate for nal approval, Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, libustered the measure for an hour before the Democratic majority cut her o at about 9:15 p.m. by voting to limit debate.

Separately, the legislature Monday passed House Bill 1311, which would distribute more than $2 billion in TABOR refunds next year to Coloradans through at-rate checks of roughly $650 or $1,300, depending on whether someone is a single or joint tax ler.

However, the GOP was unable to stop or force big changes to either measure because of their large political disadvantage in the House and Senate. e 2024 legislative session begins in early January 2024.