The Unusual Journey of Property Tax Reduction and Proposition 120 in Colorado featuring Michael Fields and Chris Brown

On this November's Colorado ballot, voters will decide the fate of Proposition 120: “Property Tax Assessment Rate Reduction.” Proposition 120 proposes to permanently reduce the statewide property tax assessment rate for several classes of property.

What is interesting is that something unprecedented happened in advance of this ballot measure appearing before voters. The ultimate impact of the measure hinges on whether 2021 legislation Senate Bill 21-293: “Property Tax Classification and Assessment Rates” passed by the state legislature after the ballot initiative was submitted, will remain law. Senate Bill 21-293 reclassified property types, and because of this Proposition 120’s proposed assessment rate reductions would apply only to multi-family and commercial lodging property, respectively. 

To unpack why the legislature passed a bill in direct response to a ballot measure that had not even appeared on the ballot yet, the multitude of ways impacts could shake out if both become law, the origins and impetus for Proposition 120, and the road ahead, Host and Chairman Earl Wright welcomes two guests. The first is Michael Fields, Executive Director of Colorado Rising Action, and the man responsible for filing this ballot measure. The other is Chris Brown, Common Sense Institute's Vice President of Policy and Research.

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