Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Voter approval

Colorado Courts Deliver Split Decisions on TABOR in 2025
Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Colorado Courts Deliver Split Decisions on TABOR in 2025

By Rob Natelson | Commentary, Complete Colorado During 2025, Colorado appellate courts issued two important decisions construing the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR. One continued the judiciary’s long practice of defeating and weakening TABOR. The other decision, however, was a rare victory for Colorado taxpayers. Background The Colorado Constitution, like the charters of almost all other states, includes terms restricting public debt, taxes, and spending. Such terms are called “tax and expenditure limitations” or “TELs.” State constitution-writers started to insert TELs during the mid 19th century, after several states went bankrupt from overspending. This helps explain why the Colorado Constitution, as adopted in 1876, included some very strict TEL...
Citizen sues Colorado Springs for ‘end run’ around TABOR in $40 million bond ordinance
Fox21, Approved, Local

Citizen sues Colorado Springs for ‘end run’ around TABOR in $40 million bond ordinance

By Norishka Pachot | Fox21 (COLORADO SPRINGS) — A lawsuit has been filed in El Paso County District Court against the City of Colorado Springs and Mayor Yemi Mobolade over alleged TABOR and constitutional violations. The lawsuit by Preserve Pine Creek Village, LLC, alleges that the City violated multiple provisions of the Colorado Constitution, including the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), which requires voter approval before creating multi-year government debt. The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of a $40 million Private Activity Bond (PAB) issuance approved by the City Council on May 27. Tim Lewan, who lives in the Pine Creek Village area, says he donated to the legal fund because he’s been against the development of these apartments from the start. “We have been try...
Denver Schools say lease-financing is lawful, critics say it skirts voter oversight
Approved, denvergazette.com, Local

Denver Schools say lease-financing is lawful, critics say it skirts voter oversight

By Nicole C. Brambila | Denver Gazette In a motion to dismiss filed Friday in response to a lawsuit, Denver Public Schools (DPS) defended its use of lease-purchase agreements — a financing method critics say sidesteps required voter approval for public debt that could leave students without access to their schools if the district defaults. “This allegedly unlawful ‘scheme’ is actually a common and completely legal method of financing projects for public entities in a manner that is authorized by statute and has been repeatedly ratified by Colorado courts,” DPS officials said in their filing. As previously reported by The Denver Gazette, DPS has quietly taken on hundreds of millions of dollars in long-term debt through a controversial financing tactic that sidesteps the state’s con...

FD863768-0ACF-495E-9D21-2EF784DFFA6B[1]

Join us at RMV's Freedom Festival

Click Here for Tickets!

This will close in 0 seconds