Amendments 60 & 61?

I'm really torn on this one - I'm for them having to tighten their belts. I am not for how they are going to do it - closing libraries and state funded museums, cutting educational programs and services. There are other places to make cuts - like the redundant layers and layers of government officials.

mymountaintown.com/forum/6-the-courthous...-and-101-in-november
www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2009/12/14/daily17.html

Proposition 101 would nearly eliminate vehicle registration fees, reduce state income taxes and end all state charges on phone and Internet services except for 911 fees.

Amendment 60 would reverse a 2007 legislative decision that froze property-tax rates for most school districts rather than allow them to continue dropping.

Amendment 61 — would prohibit state and local governments from taking on debt without voter approval, stopping the use of bond-like “certificates of participation” that colleges often use to construct buildings.

Amendment 61 would get rid of the ability of govt to procure bonds for construction work. Almost NOTHING in govt, and for that matter, the private sector, is built without borrowing. What is does is force only 10 yr bonds, not the typical 20 yr bonds. (like most of us have our mortgages-more that 20 yrs...I know I have a 30 yr). The 10 yr rule makes the repayment debt service too high, and therefore they can't be built. No more libraries, schools, major transit projects, etc.

Amendment 60 -school districts must cut property taxes by 50%...and the "state" is supposed to make up the difference. Not sure where that $$ will come from. I'm all for vouchers, and believe our schools need a ton of work, but cutting their funding by 50% is absurd.

Both of these make state law trump local municipalities. Just like I believe in states rights, we as a community should have our own destiny as well.

If these pass, businesses will flee Colorado. MANY people will lose their jobs. Not just govt. bureaucrats, but many of us in the private sector as well. Yes, I have a bone to pick in this fight. If they pass, my company will go out of business, as will many in the construction industry. Construction depends on growth. These bills will eliminate all growth here locally.

I'm all for belt tightening in govt, but lighting a bonfire around our economy is not the right way to do it.

I also agree that government needs to tighten belts, but this does not appear to be the right method. Many good points made above about the impact and who will pay or what services will be shut down.

Goverment never learns, when the Colorado voters gave them the extra money from Amendment C, do they save it? No. Pay down debt? No. They found ways to spend all the extra money and more. And that was the good times, imagine how nice that savings would be for now.

SS109 wrote: Goverment never learns, when the Colorado voters gave them the extra money from Amendment C, do they save it? No. Pay down debt? No. They found ways to spend all the extra money and more. And that was the good times, imagine how nice that savings would be for now.

Agreed. We need to utilize a scalpel to bring down govt. expenses. Just doing it blindfolded with a sledgehammer is not the way. It won't just be govt...it will be all of Colorado suffering. Businesses WILL leave, and other states will welcome them with open arms.

Businesses WILL leave, and other states will welcome them with open arms.

I disagree.

Businesses will start to come to Colorado - and more money will wind up in the pockets of taxpayers where it will be spent on local economies.

This will not stop construction - it will boost it. Bonds are one way that government spends our money before we even earn it. They have spent money that we won't have earned for 20 years. This has got to stop now - or we are in big trouble. The only construction this will stop will be those massive government projects that they want to build without a vote from the people.

Government can continue to spend our money for everything it wants - it just has to ask for permission to do so - and that's good policy in my book.

I will vote for all these amendments - they are good for Colorado and for the taxpayers.

BearMtnHIB wrote:

Businesses WILL leave, and other states will welcome them with open arms.

I disagree.

Businesses will start to come to Colorado - and more money will wind up in the pockets of taxpayers where it will be spent on local economies.

This will not stop construction - it will boost it. Bonds are one way that government spends our money before we even earn it. They have spent money that we won't have earned for 20 years. This has got to stop now - or we are in big trouble. The only construction this will stop will be those massive government projects that they want to build without a vote from the people.

Government can continue to spend our money for everything it wants - it just has to ask for permission to do so - and that's good policy in my book.

I will vote for all these amendments - they are good for Colorado and for the taxpayers.

Make sure you turn the lights out when you leave.

Any capital improvements are paid for with bonds. No different than a house mortgage. If govt. can't finance construction, they can't build. How many of us would have houses if we had to pay cash for them? We aren't talking about entitlement spending here, nor are we talking about wasteful spending. We are talking about investments in major real estate and assets for the state and local municipalities.

There is nothing wrong with govt borrowing for this purpose. You are mistaking the wasteful spending of washington and the wasteful spending of the states with spending to make our state better.

Businesses come to a state, or leave based on what makes the state great. Low taxes are great....but if you have no tax base, it really doesn't matter.

Typically you and I are on the same page when it comes to govt. spending, but I have researched this a ton (due to the personal impact it will have on my family) and know exactly the impact it will have, and it is the wrong way to go about changing the govt.

How many businesses have you spoken to about how this will affect them? I've spoken to many....most realize the huge impact this will have on their business, and are already looking at options in wyoming, and other states.

This is no different than trying to get someone to lose weight by starving them to death. Yeah, they lost weight, but now they are dead.

But maybe we do need to tone down the building? If we do have a forecast of 10 years of stagnation, is it really smart to mortgage ourselves for 20 years to buy shiny new highways people won't use?
Compete with other states for jobs? Like California, which has an ever greater debt load/tax rate that is forcing businesses to move east?

Again - I'll reiterate my point, this will stop no project. Those massive projects that require borrowing more than 10 years out simply need to be approved by the voters.

If the voters do not want them - why is our government building them? We all need to ask ourselves this question.

No project will be stopped by this amendment unless the people do not want it. Projects of that size (in my opinion) should have the approval of those who will be paying for it.

It's really that simple.