Colorado Voters Near Historic Tax Code Overhaul
Preliminary results show a $500,000 threshold tax increase leading by 1.2 points while a revenue cap expansion takes a commanding 55 percent advantage.
By Julian Schulz ·
Colorado voters on Tuesday appeared poised to approve the state's most extensive tax code revision in 34 years. Preliminary results from 10 p.m. indicated strong support for increasing the constitutional revenue limit and a narrow lead for a proposal to raise income taxes on high earners.
Amendment 87, which requires only a simple majority to pass, held a 50.6 percent lead over 49.4 percent opposition. The measure proposes increasing individual and corporate income tax rates to 7.4 percent for income above $500,000. It further plans to gradually raise the rate to 8.4 percent for income exceeding $1 million. These higher rates would affect the top 3 percent of state earners. The remaining 97 percent of Coloradans, who earn less than $500,000 annually, would see a slight reduction in their income tax.
Nonpartisan state legislative staff estimated that Amendment 87 would generate $2 billion in additional state revenue by the 2027-28 fiscal year. The measure functions by repealing existing constitutional language rather than amending it, which simplifies the approval process compared to other ballot items.
Proposition NN, a legislatively referred measure, showed clear momentum with 55 percent support and 45 percent opposition. This proposal would raise the revenue cap established by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. State analysts projected the change would allow the state to retain approximately $500 million more in revenue annually. The measure would likely eliminate TABOR refunds, which return excess revenue to taxpayers, for the foreseeable future.
A third tax measure, Proposition 136, lagged with 47 percent support. Backed by the conservative group Advance Colorado, the proposal aimed to block Amendment 87 by capping state income tax rates at the current 4.4 percent level. If both Amendment 87 and Proposition 136 had passed, the conflicting provisions would have been resolved based on which measure received more affirmative votes.
The outcome of Tuesday's vote sets the stage for a shift in state fiscal policy. The combination of raising the revenue cap and implementing higher taxes on the top tier of earners represents a structural change to how the state collects and retains funds. Voters effectively decided to alter the long-standing constraints on state taxation.
Source: Sentinel Colorado
