Colorado Supreme Court upholds taxes for Denver special districts

A taxpayer advocacy group sued RTD and SCFD for allegedly violating TABOR.

Associated Press

Apr. 23, 2018, 11:32 a.m.

The Colorado Supreme Court has upheld the legality of sales taxes that are collected by two special districts in metropolitan Denver.

Monday’s ruling came in a lawsuit filed by a taxpayer advocacy group in 2013. It sued the Regional Transportation District and a cultural district for allegedly violating Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

TABOR requires voter approval for any tax hike.

The legislature in 2013 allowed RTD and the cultural district to collect taxes on things such as candy, soft drinks and cigarettes.

The court ruled that new taxes are such minor changes to tax policy that they don’t require voter approval.

The taxes are expected to generate $2.7 million annually for RTD and $250,000 for the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District. That’s less than 1 percent of their budgets.

The view from the Saint Francis Apartments on Washington Street in Capitol Hill, May 1, 2018. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Election

Four men are running to rep the district in the heart of Denver, District 10, on the City Council

It's "a tale of two cities."

Election

Three candidates want to be Denver’s next clerk and recorder — and just the third person elected to the role

It's an election for the person who oversees elections.

Inside Denver's downtown detention center. Oct. 11, 2018. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Denver’s auditor isn’t happy with the way the Denver Sheriff Department is handling safety at its jails

An audit conducted over a six-month period highlighted several issues, including concerns about handcuffing inmates.

Artist Karl Christian Krumpholz speaks with a reporter at a Capitol Hill coffeeshop, March 20, 2019. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

A Denver tale of homelessness and hope, told in comics

Capitol Hill artist Karl Christian Krumpholz's “Nothing but Suitcases” will be unveiled today as part of a citywide multimedia storytelling project.

Election

Denver City Council candidate Raymond Montoya has a history of fraud

Montoya once stole $350,000 from a bank where he worked as a teller and $25,000 from his former boss, Stephen Tebo, in Boulder.

The National Western Center, June 25, 2018. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

The new National Western Center will house more cattle and llamas, but what will it do the rest of the time?

It's not exactly clear. The campus wants your ideas, though.

Vape and Play, South Broadway, Feb. 1, 2019. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Vape and Play and Dean Ween’s Honeypot Lounge will be resurrected by Frankenstein-ing

The marijuana businesses are joining up to offer social marijuana consumption and live music.

Tampons for sale by a local purveyor, Jan. 11, 2019. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

House unanimously approves bill providing free tampons to jail inmates in Colorado

The effort was led by Rep. Leslie Herod of Denver.

A kindergarten teacher at Kenton Elementary in Aurora, Colorado helps a student practice saying and writing numbers. (Yesenia Robles/Chalkbeat)

Colorado lawmakers carve out room for full-day kindergarten in proposed budget

Doing so could require “tightening our purse strings” and not funding other initiatives, lawmakers said.

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette speaks to press at Focus Points in Elyria Swansea about a measure she'll introduce to limit releases of hydrogen cyanide, March 19, 2019. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

DeGette will try to clamp down on hydrogen cyanide emissions, but will it matter?

The congresswoman pointed specifically to Suncor, the tar sands refinery just over Denver's northern border, as a site that's currently allowed to choose its own limits.