Last week, the governor’s budget office released its latest state revenue forecast. The good news is state revenues are strong, and from the business community’s perspective, with our growing economy, we expected to see solid revenue growth.
While we are thankful that we continue to see this economic success, we are immediately reminded that this good news still won’t address our long-term transportation funding needs, which have lacked meaningful new funding for 25 years. As we all know, the formulas in our constitution that are part of TABOR (the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights) mean that instead of funding priorities like transportation, we will soon be refunding hundreds of millions of dollars to taxpayers – the forecast estimates the state will refund $261 million in 2019 and $381 million in 2020. At the same time, our constitution mandates funding increases for the K-12 education system, further limiting how new dollars can be used.
What this means for us is that successfully passing Proposition 110 in November is more important than ever – it’s the only way to make a real dent in the $9 billion in unfunded state transportation projects. In its first year, Proposition 110 will generate $767 million, unlocking $6 billion in bonding capacity. And, it will send millions to local governments as well – something that is critical given that 88 percent of roads are owned and maintained by them. Because it’s a sales tax, we love that the over 40 million out-of-state visitors will help pay for improvements to our transportation system, too, and the funds can only be used to support our transportation system.
November will be here sooner than we think, so please take the time to learn about Proposition 110 and share how important it is with others. You can see the Chamber’s full ballot guide at denverchamber.org/2018ballot. And, you can pick up your yard sign to show your support of Proposition 110 next time you’re at the Chamber.
Kelly Brough is the president and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber.