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12 Colorado counties join lawsuit to block property tax ballot measure

Twelve Colorado counties have joined a lawsuit against the State of Colorado to block a new law aimed at providing property tax relief.

By: Jessica Porter

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DENVER — Twelve Colorado counties have joined a lawsuit against the State of Colorado to block a new ballot measure which supporters claim will provide property tax relief.

Governor Jared Polis signed Senate Bill 23-303 Wednesday that will put a measure on the ballot in November to reduce the assessment rate for homes and commercial properties and not tax the first $40,000 of value. The law will ultimately reduce Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) refunds.

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Advance Colorado, which filed the lawsuit, says the law violates the state constitution’s single subject rule and is too vague.

“If you look at the ballot language, it is very biased in the way that it talks about it. It says, 'Do you want to cut property taxes for homes and businesses?' There's no numbers involved,” said Michael Fields with Advance Colorado.

The nonprofit wants lawmakers to call a special session and get back to work.

“We want to bring forth a ballot measure that would cap the increase in property taxes. So saying, you know, 4%, annually, for example, but we don't want to have 40 or 50% increases,” Fields said.