The Colorado secretary of state has certified a ballot initiative that would reduce valuation rates for property tax assessment purposes.
Initiative 27 would reduce the residential property valuation rate to 6.5 percent from 7.15 percent and reduce the nonresidential property valuation rate to 26.4 percent from 29 percent.
According to an August 26 statement by the secretary of state's office, backers submitted 192,562 signatures. Using a random sample of 5 percent of the signatures, the elections division determined that 138,567 of the signatures are valid, exceeding the minimum of 124,632 valid signatures needed to qualify the measure for the November ballot.
“We brought this initiative because property values have been going up so fast in Colorado — and property taxes with them,” Michael Fields, executive director of Colorado Rising State Action, told Tax Notes.
“A 9 percent property tax cut would help all Coloradans, but especially seniors, people on fixed income, and small businesses trying to recover from the pandemic,” Fields said.
Valuation rates are known as “assessment rates” in Colorado. If enacted, Initiative 27’s assessment rate reduction is expected to reduce property tax revenue by more than $1 billion in 2023, according to the state's title board. The initiative would allow the state to retain and spend up to $25 million to offset lost revenue and to reimburse local governments for the homestead exemption for disabled veterans and senior citizens starting July 1, 2022.