TBD Colorado: State needs fiscal, constitutional reforms
Colorado needs fiscal and constitutional reforms, according to TBD Colorado, a group set up by Gov. John Hickenlooper to encourage civic engagement in solving the state’s problems. “Our state has endless positive potential,” said TBD Colorado Board Chairman Greg Maffei. “Important, forward-facing actions and decisions must be made to ensure a vibrant future. Analysts from [...]
Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights faces a direct challenge in federal court Wednesday when attorneys for the state will ask a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit by lawmakers seeking to overturn the amendment voters approved in 1992. The bipartisan group of state lawmakers argue the TABOR measure strips legislative bodies of the power to [...]
Continue reading …A few minutes before two last Thursday afternoon, the city council chambers were almost vacant. A graying, portly middle-aged man sat alone at a desk facing the council dais, surrounded by stacks of legal documents. It was Douglas Bruce, waiting patiently for the title-setting board to rule on his latest proposed charter amendment. Shuffling his [...]
Continue reading …In his recent State of the City address, Mayor Lionel Rivera suggested placing a measure on the November ballot that would ask voters to allow the city to retain TABOR surpluses for the next three years. It’s a good idea. The request should be placed on the ballot, and voters should approve it. Colorado Springs [...]
Continue reading …In his “State of the City” address today, Mayor Lionel Rivera called upon Colorado Springs residents to suspend the city’s TABOR law for this year and through 2012 and urged the legislature to reform the pension plan for state and local government workers.
Continue reading …It appears that Colorado Springs’ economic tide has begun to turn. City budget officials reported this week that sales and use-tax collections jumped 14 percent in May compared to the previous May and that the 2010 city budget is projected to have a surplus. Hallelujah. Let’s turn on the streetlights again. Let’s fill up the [...]
Continue reading …A majority of Colorado voters surveyed by the Colorado Policy Institute say the Taxpayer Bill of Rights should be repealed. Fifty-five percent said the measure, which was intended to curb runaway tax and spend habits, has hamstrung the state budget and it should be done away with. The survey also showed that 48 percent of those polled believe [...]
Continue reading …Dueling “truth squads” sweltered in 90-degree heat on the steps of City Hall just before noon today, each determined to present their own spin on “Baby TABOR.”
Continue reading …How can the city be rescued from its current funding crisis, which will almost certainly worsen during the coming months and years? In considering the problem, city residents seem to fall into several, sometimes overlapping, categories. There is no problem – the city is run by sleepy, incompetent bureaucrats who throw money around with obscene [...]
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