When “Protecting Seniors” Meets Fiscal Reality: A Self-Inflicted Crisis
By Rep. Ken DeGraaf | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice
Any legislator who has opened their inbox lately has seen the urgent appeals: AARP warning that Colorado’s Senior Homestead Property Tax Exemption is under threat. The message is emotionally compelling—and fundamentally correct. Eliminating or weakening the exemption would amount to a tax increase on seniors, many of whom live on fixed incomes after decades of contributing to their communities.
But what those emails don’t say is just as important as what they do.
Because the current threat to the exemption did not emerge in a vacuum. It is the predictable result of a broader shift in Colorado’s fiscal philosophy—one that AARP itself has helped advance.
A Record of Priorities—And Who Gets Left Behind
If the curr...










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