Colorado's fire chiefs say property tax relief bill would "devastate" districts
Opposition is mounting to a property tax relief bill at the state Capitol.
Colorado's fire chiefs say the measure will devastate local fire districts, many of which are already struggling.
The bill means less of an increase in property taxes for homeowners but also less money for most fire districts.
The plan was for the state to backfill the lost revenue with our tax refunds from the Taxpayer Bill of Rights or TABOR, but in the fine print of the nearly 60-page bill are restrictions on who gets reimbursed, and most special districts will not.
Maybe no one will feel the impact more than fire districts, 70% of which receive all of their funding from property taxes.
"This bill came out on Monday and it really kind of shocked all of us," said Chief Kristy Olme of Northwest Fire Protection District.
She's president of the Fire Chiefs Association and says it had been working with the governor's office on a stable, sustainable funding mechanism.
She says the bill threatens to upend the budgets of 250 fire districts across the state, many of which are already struggling.
Olme says personnel costs are up 40% and equipment at least 100% over the last couple of years. Gear for one firefighter runs $36,000 and a basic engine is now $1.5 million.
Meanwhile, property taxes, for rural fire districts especially, were shrinking year after year until voters repealed the Gallagher Amendment in 2020.
"We thought it was going to give us a little bit of breathing room," Olme said.
Then came Senate Bill 303, which reduces property tax revenue by more than a billion dollars a year. While the governor and bill sponsors promised to backfill lost revenue to local governments and special districts, under the bill, if their assessed values go up by at least 20% - which they have in most parts of the state - they don't qualify for reimbursement for 10 years, even if there's a downturn.
"We've been patted on the head.. we've been held off saying that... 'fire protection districts will be taken care of,'" said Olme. "And I hate to be overdramatic... but if this bill passes in its current form it could be devastating."
"It truly is just this huge bait and switch that's going on," said Republican state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer.
She offered an amendment on the senate floor to help fire districts but democrats killed it.
"How ironic. Fire protection districts are getting no protection," she said.
The bill passed the Senate and will be heard in a House committee Saturday. One of the bill sponsors says they are working on an amendment to address fire districts concerns.
Olme says they would like to be part of the conversation.
"We're the ones who stop those fires when their small. That will change. We will have a lot more state-owned fires if we continue down this path," Olme said.
Colorado Counties and the Colorado Association of REALTORS oppose the bill as well. It requires counties to differentiate between owner-occupied residential properties and rental properties, the latter would receive less of a tax break.
Opponents say it would lead to higher rents.
The bill also changes the formula for the Taxpayer Bill of Rights and the free market think tank, Common Sense Institute, released analysis finding it will eliminate all TABOR refunds within the next few years.
If it passes the legislature, it would still need voter approval in November.
