The Common Sense Institute just handed Colorado a financial colonoscopy, and guess what they found? Surprise! The state’s been shoving fees down your wallet’s throat while pretending to give you tax breaks. If you have ever heard some bureaucrat say, “It’s not a tax, it’s a fee,” well, here’s what that costs you.
- Since TABOR started in 1994, fee revenue went from $742 million to $25.8 billion (yes, billion—with a B), a 3,400% increase.
- Meanwhile, population growth and inflation? A modest 196%. So no, this ain’t just about “more people needing more services.”
- Voters passed Prop 117 in 2020 to rein in fee-happy politicians by requiring a vote on big new fee-generating “enterprises.” Result? Lawmakers just started creating new ones below the radar or bloated existing ones instead.
- Ten new enterprises were created without voter approval after Prop 117 passed. Altogether, they cost Coloradans $124.3 million in FY2024.
- Wanna know how much extra you’d pay if all these fees were rolled into the state income tax? It would jump from 4.25% to 5.98% – and 12.57% if you count higher ed fees.
- For every $1 increase in general tax revenue since 2008, fee revenue jumped $2.69 per person. That’s like saying, “Here’s your tax cut” while mugging your bank account from behind a toll booth.
My Bottom Line
Ah yes, the Colorado legislature, where “fee” is just a politically correct way of saying “bend over, taxpayer.” You’d think with a name like “Common Sense Institute” this report would be comedy, but nope, it’s tragedy, dressed in a spreadsheet.
And Jared Polis, the granola-techno-king of taxation by loophole, deserves a gold-plated shovel for how deep he’s been digging into people’s pockets. He’s like a budget magician: “Look, we cut income taxes!” poof – now you’re paying more for gas, driving, parking, breathing, and probably blinking too. Fee-based governance is his love language.
Let’s not forget the legislature: these clowns couldn’t get a tax hike past voters if their lives depended on it, so they did what every over-caffeinated bureaucrat dreams of: they renamed taxes, slapped a new sticker on ‘em, and said, “It’s not a tax, it’s a service enhancement.” Hell, even IKEA’s more transparent with their hidden costs.
And Prop 117? That was the voters screaming, “Hey, stop sneaking crap in through the back door!” Polis and pals heard that and said, “Cool story, bro. Here’s ten more enterprises we just made up in a broom closet.” $124 million later, the fees are bigger than the actual general fund.
So next time you hear a Democrat in Denver brag about keeping taxes low, ask ‘em how their Enterprise Fee Ponzi Scheme is going. Because while they’re patting themselves on the back, Coloradans are getting walloped in the wallet – with zero voter input.
