Opinion: Proposition HH would only make our property tax mess worse
I’ve spent weeks trying to decipher the effects of the Proposition HH ballot measure. I’ve read the state Blue Book, much of the legislation and multiple articles (CPR.org has one of the best). Here are my observations to date, though the principles underlying its structure elude me. The stimulus for Prop HH was the rapid increase in property taxes in high-demand areas over the last few years. This bump was mostly due to the shift to remote work stimulated by the pandemic, resulting in people moving to desirable locations, like Colorado’s Front Range and resort areas, thus pushing real estate prices up rapidly. For context, per WalletHub.com, 2019 (pre-pandemic) Colorado was ranked the 11th best state for low-income people in tax burden as a percentage of income, 10th best for middle-income people and 14th best for high-income. Apparently, Colorado was not overtaxing people. In 2023, for overall tax burden, Colorado ranked 24th best state of 50. So, our governments’ taxes are now in th