Income tax measure still too close to call in Colorado

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(The Center Square) – Amendment 87, which would replace Colorado's 4.4% flat income tax with a graduated version, continues to face a tight battle.

As of Wednesday, the latest election results showed 50.4% of voters for the measure, with 1,099,295 votes, and 49.60% against it with 1,081,719 votes. That's with 100% of precincts reporting across the state. 

Constitutional amendments such as Amendment 87 require 55% voter approval, while propositions require a simple majority.

Proposition 136, a cap on the income tax, was another tight call but continues to lead toward failing, with 52.51% against the measure with 1,128,269 votes and 47.49% for it with 1,102,369 votes. 

The fate of Proposition 135, the measure to prohibit gender-altering surgeries on minors, continues to be uncertain, but is trending toward passing, with 52.08% for the measure with 1,133,317 votes and 47.92% against with 1,042,790 votes. 

Amendment 87 is the biggest controversy on the ballot this year because it will require Coloradans to vote on the first change to the state's income tax structure in over 40 years.

Amendment 87 seeks to change the state Constitution by replacing Colorado’s flat income tax of 4.4% with a graduated tax ranging from 3.7% to 8.4%. 

The Constitution's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, or TABOR, currently prohibits a graduated tax.

Proponents argue the measure will help middle- and lower-income Coloradans by giving them a tax cut, but opponents warn the measure could hurt small businesses. 

Under Amendment 87, Coloradans making between $500,001 and $750,000 annually would pay 7.4%, while those making between $750,001 and $1 million would pay 7.9%. Those earning more than $1 million a year would pay 8.4%. That’s a 4% increase. 

The Center Square reached out to the Common Sense Institute, a nonprofit based in Colorado, for a comment but did not get a response. 

Proposition 136, whose fate was uncertain on Wednesday, would cap Colorado's state income tax rate at 4.4% of federal taxable income for individuals and corporations. 

The proposal would establish a statutory limit on the income tax rate. The measure could conflict with Amendment 87, which proposes replacing the flat tax with graduated rates. If both measures pass, the one with more affirmative votes would prevail.

Under Proposition 135, a “yes” vote meant healthcare professionals across the state would be prohibited from performing surgeries on minors intended to alter their biological sex. 

The measure, which remains in a tight contest, would also prohibit prescribing, administering or providing those surgeries to minors and prevent state or federal funds, Medicaid reimbursement and insurance coverage from paying for them. 

As reported previously in this story, the fate of Props. 13

Proposition NN passed with 55.37% and 1,207,825 votes for the measure. This would increase state investment in K-12 public education by 2% annually for the next 10 years. The funding would support teacher pay, teacher retention, smaller class sizes and expanded access to career and technical education courses.

It would allow the state to retain and spend additional revenue by raising the annual state spending limit by the amount spent on public K-12 education. Critics argue the proposition overrides TABOR by allowing the state to keep the revenue it accrues instead of refunding it back to the taxpayers.

Proposition 134 has 52.55% of the ballots, with 1,142,090 for the measure and 47.45% with 1,031,138 against. This would restrict participation in K-12 and college sports based on biological sex. Schools and athletic organizations would be required to designate teams as male, female or coeducational. Participants generally would only be allowed to compete on teams corresponding to their designated sex, with an exception allowing females to compete on male-designated teams when no female team is available.

 Amendment 81 failed with 54.86% or 1,200,803 votes against the measure.

This amendment would have required law enforcement to notify the U.S. Department of Homeland Security when someone is charged with a violent crime, or any crime if the individual has a prior felony conviction, when officers can't determine whether the person is lawfully present in the U.S.

Amendment 82 failed with 53.69% and 1,164,647 votes against the measure. This amendment would have established a constitutional right for consumers to purchase natural gas for cooking and heating in homes and businesses. It would also protect the ability of utilities and distributors to sell natural gas to consumers.

Amendment 83 failed with 54.99% and 1,193,885 votes against the measure. This amendment would have established a constitutional right to hunt and fish using traditional methods. It would make hunting and fishing the preferred methods of managing wildlife populations while preserving the state's authority to regulate those activities for conservation and public safety. Non-game species, endangered species and species prohibited from hunting under federal law would be excluded.

Amendment 84 failed with 63.2% or 1,385,094 votes against the measure. This amendment would have required voters to submit mail-ballots in federal and state elections to sign the ballot and include the last four digits of their Social Security number or their Colorado driver's license on the outside of the ballot. 

The fate of Amendment 85 was uncertain with 50.96% and 1,108,286 votes for the measure and 49.04% against it with 1,066,610 votes. This amendment would require state and local ballot questions to be written in plain language at no more than an eighth-grade reading level. It would also prevent state statutes from requiring conflicting language on citizen-initiated ballot questions.

Amendment 86 was leading, with 53.25% against the amendment with 1,038,370 votes. This amendment would preserve Colorado's current congressional redistricting process while adding restrictions on changes to finalized maps. To pass, it needs 55%. 

Proposed changes under Amendment 86 would require at least three public meetings, approval from the congressional redistricting commission and the Colorado Supreme Court and assurances that the changes do not intentionally favor a political party or divide communities of interest.

Proposition 132 continues to have a slight lead with 52.84% and 1,148,292 votes. This measure would increase felony classifications and criminal penalties for certain fentanyl and synthetic opioid offenses, including distribution, manufacturing, dispensing, selling and possession. 

It would also establish mandated treatment for certain drug-related felony violations based on possession amounts and change sentencing provisions for certain offenses involving fentanyl and drug-related deaths.

Proposition 133 passed with 62% of the vote, with 1,346,602 votes for the measure. This will expand Colorado's existing human trafficking laws involving minors for sexual servitude. The measure would include knowingly exchanging anything of monetary value to buy or sell sexual activity with a minor and increase the proposed penalty to life imprisonment without parole or release.

Proposition 137 remains at a virtual tie, with 50.36% for the measure and 49.64% against it. Prop 137 would allow Colorado to retain and spend a portion of existing sales tax revenue collected from sporting goods and equipment to support conservation efforts without increasing tax rates. The funding would support water and land conservation, forest protection, wildfire prevention and outdoor recreation programs.