Amendment 58 won’t raise gas prices, report says

In spite of what oil and gas companies are saying, a ‘yes’ vote on Amendment 58 won’t mean higher prices at the gas pump. According to a report issued yesterday by the Bell Policy Center, an economic research organization in Denver, gas prices are not directly determined by severance tax rates. Amendment 58 seeks to eliminate a tax benefit historically handed to the oil and gas industries in Colorado in order to recoup $300 million per year for schools, transportation and natural resource projects.

Schools asking for stop-gap funds, not improvements

Colorado voters will be asked to approve almost $2.5 billion in school bonds and mill levies this fall to shore up crumbling infrastructure, address safety issues posed by aging school buildings and cover the increasing costs of educating the state’s more than 800,000 students.

Colorado’s monster ballot longest in the nation

With a record 18 proposals on everything from oil and gas taxes to unions to the developmentally disabled to gambling, Colorado voters will be weighing in on the longest ballot in Colorado since 1912 — and the largest in the United States this year.

Part III: The “T-Word” Solution to State Budget Problems

Colorado’s budget may seem hefty at $17 billion, when actually, it is less than other states at comparable sizes. Simply, there is not enough money to meet the needs of the people, road upgrades and educational standards for a growing…

Part II: State Budget in Dollars and Sense; Ref. C

The State of Colorado doesn’t have enough money to support services such as education, health care or transportation because of its low tax base and complications from constitutional and statutory requirements that dictate how money is spent.

In an…

Part I: Lack of Money, Abundance of Laws Drive Budget Process

Colorado Confidential has been running a series of articles about the $17 billion dollar state budget from the perspective of the Chairman of the Joint Budget Committee, Sen. Abel Tapia.

We’ve asked Wade Buchanan, president of the