ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. - The debate in Arapahoe County rages on about whether or not the county should be allowed to collect more property taxes. Voters will now have the final say after a 4-1 decision by county commissioners Tuesday.
The majority of public comment at the afternoon meeting was in favor of the measure, but several critics spoke up as well, including TABOR Fountain Board Director Natalie Menten.
"The irony here is that we've spent two or three legislative sessions talking about property taxes being too high, and we need caps," said Menten of the effort to remove the current property tax cap in place in Arapahoe County.
Here's how the question will appear on the November ballot:
Commissioners in support of the measure say it boils down to asking voters to give the county permission to collect more money than is allowed under the current TABOR cap.
"We only keep about $32 a month for the average home to provide all of the services that we provide in Arapahoe County," said Arapahoe County Commissioner Carrie Warren-Gully of the average takeaway revenue for the county on a home valued at $500,000.
Anything above the TABOR cap is given back to residents as a tax credit, which is deducted from their property tax bill.
Because of that, the county has not been collecting tens of millions of dollars each year that could have funded public services. Supports of the measure want to end the cap.
If the TABOR cap is removed, the county estimates it would collect an additional $74 million yearly.
Denver7 asked what is at stake if the measure doesn't pass.
"We do recognize the fact that we will have to make about $35 million worth of cuts in our budget. Now, not only will that affect the essential services that we're able to provide, it affects the timeliness in which we're able to provide those services," said Warren-Gully, "I would say that it does not allow for us to keep up with the deferred maintenance that we've seen over the last 20 years. We have $316 million worth of projects that need to take place, and we don't have the funding to do that. So unless we have a stable finance and budget, we can't move forward with making some of those large capital investments we know are needed, doing a lot more with a lot less."
Supporters are adamant that the measure is not a property tax increase.
"I call that false," said Menten. "That is a tax increase; it's going to take away the property tax cap that's in TABOR."
The county has an online calculator that shows what residents' property tax bills could look like if the cap and tax credits are removed, based on the value of their homes.
Click here for access to that tool.
Denver7 is committed to making a difference in our community by standing up for what's right, listening, lending a helping hand and following through on promises. See that work in action, in the videos above.