Polis Budget Plan Seeks To Keep Your TABOR Refund To Close Colorado Budget Gap

By Marianne Goodland | The Denver Gazette

Tucked deep within the hundreds of pages of the proposed $46.8 billion 2026–27 state budget is a line item showing $306.1 million in savings — achieved by canceling TABOR refunds.

Gov. Jared Polis has recommended withholding TABOR refunds in both 2026–27 and 2027–28. His budget proposal says the state accidentally overpaid $306.1 million in refunds during the 2025–26 fiscal year.

According to the governor’s office, the overpayment stemmed from federal budgetary changes that affected how the state calculated revenue for 2024–25. Those revised calculations led to higher-than-appropriate refunds being issued in 2025–26, according to the Polis administration.

The request argued that if the federal budget’s impact on 2024–25 state revenues had been known at the time, the state would have fallen below the Referendum C cap that year — meaning no TABOR refunds would have been issued in the first place.

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