With less than a month away from the new legislative session, Rep. Robert Marshall, D-Highlands Ranch, held a town hall to speak about what he has worked on during the interim session.
Marshall is on the Interim Committee on Tax Oversight.
In addition to defining the scope of tax policy to be considered, the committee must also consider policy considerations within the tax expenditure evaluations from the state auditor, recommend legislative changes and study tax policy, according to the Colorado General Assembly website.
The committee was able to draft 10 bills and propose five to the leadership, said Marshall, highlighting three specific measures he intends to serve as prime sponsor for.
The bills can be found on the Colorado General Assembly website at https://rb.gy/2i04pm.
The first is the Issuance of Treasuer’s Deeds, designated as Bill B.
In Colorado, if a taxpayer does not pay their property taxes on time, the county can issue a tax lien on the property, meaning the county gets first claim and can auction it off. The auction price can be higher than the taxes owed and the county keeps the excess money, which Marshall says is a Fifth Amendment violation.
The owner of the tax lien may apply for a treasurer’s deed – transfers ownership of the property – if the tax lien is not redeemed within three years.
In the Supreme Court case, Tyler v. Hennepin County, the court ruled property owners are entitled to any remaining equity from the seizure of their property if the value is over the amount of taxes owed.
“We’re rewriting the entire foreclosure process to ensure that doesn’t happen [here] and if there’s an excess, it has to go to the person,” said Marshall.
To be more fair for everyone in the community, the Senior Housing Income Tax Credit, designated as Bill E, was drafted.
Under the homestead property tax exemption, people can get money back on property taxes if they own their own home.
“If you rent, you don’t get that,” said Marshall.
According to the fiscal note, for the 2024 income tax year, the bill creates a refundable income tax credit for taxpayers who are at least 65 years old at the end of the tax year and below a certain income level.
The credit amount depends on income and taxpayer filing status.
Designated as Bill D, the Tax Policy Analysis by the Legislative Branch has to do with policy, and cleaning up how the Department of Revenue does their tax policy, said Marshall.
The Extraordinary Session
Marshall also spoke about the 2023 special session called to address the property tax crisis in November.
“I’ll tell you what happened and you can make your own choices,” said Marshall.
SB23B-001, known as 2023 Property Tax Relief, passed and became a law in November.
Through this law, people will get an additional $55,000 exemption on the valuation of their home. Marshall said that’s in addition to the $15,000 that’s already there, bringing it to a total of $70,000.
Also, the assessment rate was reduced to 6.7% and $200 million from the state’s general fund to backfill schools and fire departments, said Marshall.
Another bill was the Identical TABOR Refund (SB23B-003) in which a 2023 flat refund replaced a six tiered sales tax system to refund a portion of the excess state revenues for the 2022-23 state fiscal year.
Taxpayers filing a single return will receive about $800 and those filing a joint return will receive about $1,600, according to the fiscal note.
Other items included:
- Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer Program (SB23B-002), which will create a program to provide food benefits to students in low-income households during the summer months.
- Emergency Rental Assistance Grant Program (HB23B-1001) creates a program in the division of housing in which the cash fund expenditures in the Department of Local Affairs will increase up to $30 million.
- Appropriation for the Department of Treasury (HB23B-1008). Nearly $88,000 was appropriated for staff to process property tax deferrals as part of the property tax deferral program.
- Creation of Tax Code Task Force (HB23B-1006) created a task force that would make long-term property tax solutions such as recommendations to restructure tax burdens on citizens.
The bill that Marshall voted against was the Increased Earned Income Tax Credit 2023 (HB23B-1002) as he believed it was raiding the TABOR refund and he didn’t think the process was appropriate.
“It doesn’t help the people that are on fixed income that are elderly,” said Marshall. “It doesn’t help the people on disability income.”
Marshall added that it only helps people that have earned income and TABOR refund money is being taken away from senior citizens and those with a disability income.
Looking at the 2024 legislative session
As Marshall can bring five bills to the floor, he has narrowed his proposed bills down to seven, with three locked in.
The first bill is one from the last session, the County Commissioner Election, however, Marshall has thought about possible changes.
It is currently written that the bill would require counties with populations of 70,000 or more to have five county commissioners instead of three, which would affect seven counties, including Douglas County.
For the upcoming session, Marshall said he might cut it down to just having the requirement to be elected by district.
The second is called the Purple Star Families, which is intended to help kids of the Department of Defense who are transferring all the time.
The third has to do with vacancy appointments. Marshall said it is not written, however he anticipates discontent.
According to Marshall, about 30% of all the people in the state legislature got their seat through a vacancy appointment then become the incumbents. He said his idea would have to be a constitutional referendum.
In addition to the Disaster Casualty Loss, which would give a tax credit to those impacted by the tornado in June, Marshall is also thinking about the possibility of bringing the Tax Teacher Credit bill from last session. This would give a stipend to teachers to offset the out of pocket expenses they pay, including charter schools.
Marshall’s other considerations are concerning the attorney general’s lawsuit against the EPA, making collected data accessible to the public and set up a special committee that has subpoena authority for the executive branch.