Colorado Parks and Wildlife is doing cartwheels. According to reporting in The Center Square, the state’s Keep Colorado Wild Pass raked in $41 million in its second year, beating the $36 million target. The $29 pass – automatically tacked on to every vehicle registration unless you remember to opt out – funds state parks, local search and rescue, avalanche forecasters, and wildlife programs. Governor Polis called it a success story for Coloradans “investing back into the lands they love.” Translation: it’s a cash cow that sidesteps TABOR.
The Bullet Point Brief
- The pass hauled in $41 million, up 3% from its first year. Bureaucrats are giddy.
- Revenue breakdown: $32.5M for parks, $2.5M for search and rescue, $1M for avalanche info, and $5M left over for wildlife/education projects.
- More than 1.5 million Coloradans paid up, which sounds impressive until you remember most didn’t “opt in” – they forgot to “opt out”.
- Governor Polis brags it’s “60% cheaper” than the old $80 park pass. Sure, because forcing everyone to buy it makes the math look pretty.
- CPW says it’s a “meaningful increase in revenue”. Translation: thanks for letting us slip a fee through the backdoor while calling it anything but a tax.
My Bottom Line
Here’s the rub: Colorado doesn’t have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. TABOR caps taxes, but Democrats figured out the cheat code years ago: slap the word “fee” on everything and watch the cash roll in. The Keep Colorado Wild Pass is just one example. Don’t think of it as supporting the great outdoors – think of it as getting pickpocketed at the DMV.
According to the Common Sense Institute, fee revenue in Colorado has exploded by nearly 3,400% since TABOR’s adoption, outpacing inflation and population growth by a factor of seventeen. In 2024 alone, fee-based revenue topped $25.8 billion. If those fees were counted as taxes, income tax would have to climb by 41% . That’s not conservation – that’s coercion.
So, while politicians crow about “protecting parks,” remember this: it’s not really about hiking trails and wildlife. It’s about inventing creative ways to pry open your wallet. Colorado isn’t being taxed to death. It’s being FEEEEEEEE-ed to death.
