DENVER \u2013 A continued rosier revenue picture for Colorado means taxpayers could be receiving a refund in the coming years.<\/p>\n
Gov. John Hickenlooper\u2019s economists Monday presented the September revenue forecast to lawmakers \u2013 during a meeting of the Joint Budget Committee \u2013 pointing to expected growth of 7.4 percent in fiscal year 2014-15, and 6.4 percent in fiscal year 2015-16.<\/p>\n
Projections show an increase of $80.9 million in 2014-15, or 0.8 percent higher compared with the June 2014 forecast. Projections for 2015-16 are 1.3 percent, or $131 million higher.<\/p>\n
\u201cColorado\u2019s economy continues to expand at a pace that is among the best in the nation,\u201d the governor\u2019s budget office stated in its report.<\/p>\n
Henry Sobanet, director of the Governor\u2019s Office of State Planning and Budgeting, described the economy as \u201cone of the best in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Budget gurus highlighted a concentration of individuals and businesses focused on products that are in high demand. They also pointed to a \u201cgrowing culture for innovation and collaboration among individuals and firms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Much of the revenue picture emerging after the economic downturn comes from income taxes wage withholdings and sales-tax collections that continue to grow.<\/p>\n
The state\u2019s general fund reserve is projected to be nearly $233 million above its required amount for 2014-15, according to the governor\u2019s budget office.<\/p>\n
The Legislature\u2019s economists reported similar numbers. Revenue forecasts include presentations by the governor\u2019s office and legislative economists.<\/p>\n
Natalie Mullis, the Legislature\u2019s chief economist, said general-fund revenue is expected to rise by $128.5 million in the 2014-15 fiscal year, which began July 1.<\/p>\n
Revenue under the Taxpayer\u2019s Bill of Rights, or TABOR, is forecast to exceed a state cap by more than $133 million in fiscal year 2015-16 and more than $239 million in fiscal year 2016-17.<\/p>\n
The projections indicate that a refund would be required to taxpayers unless voters allow the state to keep the revenue.<\/p>\n
Mullis also highlighted that marijuana revenue has not changed. The state collects a combined tax of 25 percent on sales and excise taxes related to cannabis sales, in addition to the usual state sales tax of 2.9 percent.<\/p>\n
Since the June forecast, revenue from marijuana stands around $30.5 million.<\/p>\n
But the infusion of money, coupled with other positive economic indicators, adds to discussions about a refund.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat has changed is other state revenues unrelated to marijuana taxes, but because those revenues are increasing, we\u2019ll owe a refund on the marijuana tax,\u201d said Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver, a member of the JBC. \u201cIt\u2019s not marijuana tax collections \u2026 that\u2019s driving the refund, but in fact, it\u2019s everything else going on with the state budget.\u201d<\/p>\n
Colorado\u2019s voters approved the Taxpayer\u2019s Bill of Rights as a constitutional amendment in November 1992.
\n The measure limits taxing and spending increases by the state and local agencies to the level of inflation plus the percentage growth in population. For instance, if inflation is at 2 percent and population is at 1 percent, the state can increase spending and taxing by 3 percent.
\n Revenue from taxes collected in excess of the constitutional amendment\u2019s limit must be refunded to the taxpayers.
\n The state can ask voters to allow it to keep revenue beyond the limits set in the amendment.
\n Center on Budget and Policy Priorities<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
revenue could mean a tax refund<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[13,481,12],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-117563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-gov-john-hickenlooper","tag-state-budget-and-tax"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117563\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117563"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=117563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}