Proposition HH Bait and Switch – Colorado Style

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With jokers like Figliuzzi in charge of counterintelligence, no wonder Hamas could attack Israel and the FBI totally missed it. The FBI actually has an office in Israel, as it does in many other countries.

For the curious, Colorado labels amendments by numbers and propositions by letters. Those referred to the ballot by lawmakers via majority vote in the legislature, are given a double letter, hence the HH. This is not FBI Frank’s dog whistle to Colorado Nazis, if any exist.

Proposition HH is on the upcoming November ballot in Colorado. Will it save taxpayers’ money or end up costing us more? It is a classic bait and switch move, and like playing Three Card Monty with the guy on the street corner, you will leave the game with less money in your pocket.

What’s the bait? Start with the wording of the actual ballot question, “Shall the state reduce property taxes for home and businesses…” Who doesn’t want their property taxes reduced? Politicians of all parties happily promise lower taxes.

Then again, how many phone calls do we receive from unknown numbers promising to lower our energy, cable, or insurance costs? Or House Speakers telling Congress that they have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it? These are other bait and switch schemes.

Why are property taxes going through the roof now? Colorado voters took the bait in 2020, repealing the longstanding Gallagher Amendment. Put in place in 1982, as home values increased, the amendment lowered the rate used to calculate property tax rates, preventing the kind of runaway property tax increases that we will soon see due to the COVID-era rise in home prices.

Opponents of the Gallagher Amendment felt it would make it more difficult for the state to fund continuous cost increases for schools and public services. Under current economic conditions, most Coloradans are also struggling with cost increases, but we can’t call on our fellow citizens to bail us out.

That’s why we have budgets and spending priorities, and so should the state. But politicians have no such concerns over spending their constituents’ money.

TABOR, or the “Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights”, approved in 1992, is a check on profligate state government spending, limiting how much Colorado can retain and spend, tied to inflation and population growth, common sense limits on spending. Excess funds are returned to taxpayers each year.

Now for the switch. Passing Prop HH would take the TABOR refund Colorado taxpayers would receive and use a portion to reduce property taxes. That would be like the IRS taking your refund and using it to pay for a new tax increase. You are still paying for the tax increase using your own money, just taking it from a different pocket.

Remember the “Social Security Trust Fund”? That’s another scam. As another interesting aside, here’s how the Heritage Foundation describes it,

The Social Security Trust Fund is a deception. It contains no genuine assets, only government bonds–IOUs that have no value beyond a promise to impose higher taxes on future workers. Even the Clinton Administration admits that the Trust Fund is fraudulent.

Who is supporting Prop HH? As expected, big government donor class Democrats – Pat Stryker, Democrat PAC Boldly Forward, and the Colorado Teachers Union. Their return is more government spending for their pet programs and agendas.

If Prop HH passes, the state would be able to collect and spend an additional $9 billion over the next decade that would otherwise go back to taxpayers. If the legislature extends Prop HH through 2040, Coloradans would face a $21 billion tax increase.

If anyone believes Gov. Jared Polis needs more spending money, feel free to write a check to the Colorado Department of Revenue.

The Common Sense Institute summed it up well:

Proposition HH is one of the most complicated ballot measures ever presented to voters. Coloradans are facing historic property tax increases. Property taxes still significantly increase under Prop HH and has costly impacts for homeowners and renters.

Leave it to the government to create a problem, pushing repeal of the Gallagher Amendment, causing a new problem, which they want to “fix” using our money under a new and complex scheme.

The bait is lowering property taxes. The switch is that Coloradans will give up more in TABOR refunds than they would save in property taxes. And their tax relief would only be temporary as taxes will continue to rise absent the Gallagher Amendment. But their lost TABOR refund will be permanent.

These scams are not unique to Colorado so voters in all 50 states and even in other countries should be wary of any government proposal that sounds too good to be true like this one.

Heed Ronald Reagan’s admonition, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help.”

Hopefully Colorado voters don’t take the bait. But given how blue the state is, with Denver becoming New York, Chicago, and San Francisco on the drug, crime, and illegals front, unfortunately Coloradans will get what they vote for and deserve, dooming the rest of us to ever increasing taxes and rents.

Let’s hope common sense prevails in the Centennial State and voters turn down Proposition HH.

Brian C. Joondeph, M.D., is a physician and writer. Follow me on Twitter @retinaldoctor, Substack Dr. Brian’s Substack, Truth Social @BrianJoondeph, and LinkedIn @Brian Joondeph.

Image: Richard Hogan, via Holtorf for Colorado // public use

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