For several months, the Chamber has been working with a large coalition of partners from across the state to file language for a November ballot issue asking Coloradans to invest in our transportation infrastructure through an increase in sales tax.
Why do we need to invest?
Colorado has critical needs that have gone unmet for decades. In fact, it’s been almost 25 years since our state has received an increase in tax revenue for transportation. During that same period, Colorado’s population has grown by almost 2 million people and technology is delivering mobility solutions that we aren’t able to take advantage of. The Colorado Department of Transportation has a $9 billion project list, $7 billion of which has no secure funding.
Our failure to invest is costing us real money. Colorado drivers are, on average, paying more than $1,600 a year because of traffic congestion delays, damage to vehicles, accidents and lost gas efficiency. Those costs really add up — in total, Coloradans are paying $6.8 billion annually due to the poor condition of our transportation system.
The coalition has identified critical elements to meet our needs:
1. Focus on a statewide approach to ensure our economic engine of the Front Range and the quality of life delivered by our mountains and plains can be maintained.
2. Allocate funding to address the large, high-priority statewide projects like I-70 and I-25.
3. Ensure local governments (cities and counties) have the resources to meet their needs. Many of us don’t know whether we’re driving on a state highway or a local road — both need to be addressed.
4. Encourage regions to continue to work together to find solutions that allow regional issues to be addressed based on local priorities. Such solutions can include bus or van services that allow seniors to get to doctor appointments, improvements for pedestrians or roadway connections.
What’s on the ballot?
The coalition submitted five titles. Those range in sales tax increases from 0.35 percent to 1 percent. At their core, our goal is to provide funding for state and local transportation projects, and those titles range because the coalition wants to keep all options on the table now that we have a clearer picture of the additional review available to the state because of changes in federal tax policy and increased economic activity.
This additional one-time revenue is helpful, but we know there are a number of needs at the state in addition to transportation: education, Colorado’s pension system’s unfunded liability, implementing the state water plan and more.
There are a number of reasons the coalition is focusing on sales tax over other options:
1. Gas tax is diminishing over time as cars get more efficient and electric and hybrid vehicles don’t pay their fair share.
2. A small increase in sales tax raises more revenue than very large increases in vehicle registration or gas tax.
3. Unlike a vehicle registration tax, sales tax ensures that those 80 million visitors to Colorado contribute to maintaining and improving our roads.
4. Local governments rely heavily on sales tax, and a significant portion of the money raised will go straight to supporting local priorities.
What’s next?
The coalition will determine the title it will take to voters in November; stay up-to-date with the latest business policy news at
denverchamber.org/policynews.
Sara Crocker is the communications manager for the Denver Metro Chamber.
This article was originally published on Business Altitude. Click here to view the issue.
We learned in mid-January that the Denver metro area is one of 20 sites that Amazon is considering – down from 238 proposals – for its second North American corporate headquarters and soon after hosted the 10-person Amazon HQ2 team in Colorado.
Leading Colorado’s sole response to the initial request for proposal for Amazon HQ2, the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation (Metro Denver EDC) – an affiliate of the Chamber – is continuing its work to attract this substantial project to the region.
How’d We Get Here?
Within hours of the RFP being publicly released in September, the Metro Denver EDC was in contact with the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) and developed a communications strategy and action plan that guided completion of the response ahead of Amazon’s deadline. The action plan included a comprehensive site search and information curation on talent, global accessibility and business ethos.
As states, cities and economic developers frenzied over the prospect of being home to 50,000 new jobs in the next 10 to 15 years and $5 billion in investment, we were already at work. The criteria for HQ2 includes proximity to a major international airport, a metropolitan population with a highly educated workforce and real estate to support the major investment – criteria we know our region more than meets. Our advancement in this process shows we do stand out.
The Metro Denver EDC, which represents nine counties and 70 communities, has led the coalition of community partners and the state of Colorado to compete for this transformational project.
What’s Next?
This process has laid the groundwork for future Amazon opportunities as well as the current pipeline of more than 40 prospects in diverse industries. And, the metro Denver region is on the map for employers and top talent. In March, the Metro Denver EDC noted at its 14th Annual Meeting that in the last year it added or expanded 20 companies, leading to 6,800 primary jobs and $400 million in capital investment.
Dani Barger is the senior digital marketing specialist for the Metro Denver EDC.
This article was originally published on Business Altitude. Click here to view the issue.
No matter the sector you work in, you know budgets are critical. They are a reflection of an organization’s priorities. And, the state of Colorado’s budget is no different.
Every December and March, the state issues an updated budget forecast based on policy changes and actual performance since the last forecast. The last two budgets recognize unanticipated increases in revenue for two primary reasons — changes in federal tax policy and increased economic activity. Approximately $250 million is estimated from the change in federal tax policy, which will result in the state collecting more income tax revenue. As long as that tax policy is in place, this revenue will be collected by the state. While Congress could change tax policy again at any time, the tax policy put in place also expires in 10 years. Additionally, the economy of our state is performing stronger than anticipated and is receiving additional taxes (including corporate income tax) and expecting increased capital gains estimated to bring in approximately $500 million in one-time revenue this year for the state.
This additional revenue means that our legislature and governor have resources to allocate to state priorities.
The governor has requested that the Joint Budget Committee allocate $500 million in one-time funding in the budget year 2018-2019 to the Colorado Department of Transportation. (CDOT has over $7 billion in transportation projects with no source of funding.) Gov. Hickenlooper’s budget would also set aside $200 million for K-12 education. (Currently, more than half of the state’s school districts have gone to four-day school weeks due to a lack of funding – we’re 47th in student funding out of 50 states.) And, another $90 million to be spent on other pressing issues as decided by the legislature.
The governor’s budget highlights two critical areas that need state funding: transportation and education. We know there are other pressures, too: Colorado’s pension system, PERA, has a $32 billion unfounded liability; the state’s water plan calls for investment in our water infrastructure at $100 million a year for the next 30 years; higher education is funded 48th of 50 states; and even prisons are asking for more resources.
We don’t argue with the importance of these issues, but as we shared in late February, we’ve been part of a large statewide coalition trying to address our critical transportation needs. We have underfunded transportation for decades, and it’s costing us $6.8 billion each year because of traffic congestion delays, damage to vehicles, accidents and lost gas efficiency. As the coalition focuses on increasing funding via a ballot issue in November, we want to ensure that we only ask voters for what we absolutely need. So, we are working closely with the governor and the legislature to maximize transportation funding with the resources available and keep our options open at the ballot. To that end, the coalition has filed five ballot titles to raise sales tax in Colorado.
As we monitor what the state commits to transportation funding, we will choose which of the five ballot titles we have filed to take forward in November to ensure our economic success and our quality of life aren’t further negatively impacted because we are failing to address both our state and local transportation needs.
Kelly Brough is the president and CEO of the Denver Metro Chamber.
UPDATE: On Friday, the last day to file any other titles for the November ballot, the coalition filed a fifth ballot title to provide another option to address state and local transportation priorities that would increase sales tax 0.35 percent.
On Feb. 22, we joined with a large coalition of partners from across the state to file language for a November ballot issue asking Coloradans to invest in our transportation infrastructure through an increase in sales tax. The coalition submitted four proposals to increase the state’s sales tax and allow us to bond so the large projects on the Colorado Department of Transportation's (CDOT) priority project list can be accomplished. The sales tax increases include 0.5 percent, 0.62 percent and 1 percent, which amounts to just five to 10 cents on a $10 purchase. The fourth proposal includes a 0.5 percent sales tax increase and requires the state to transfer $150 million from current general fund revenues each year to fund state and local transportation projects. The fifth proposal, filed Friday, would increase sales tax .35 percent for local and multimodal projects, dividing revenue among cities (who would receive 40 percent), counties (40 percent) and multimodal projects (20 percent) – raising $432 million in the first year. It would also bond up to $3.7 billion for state highway projects, relying on funds dedicated by the legislature.
Former Centennial Mayor Cathy Noon and Summit County Commissioner Dan Gibbs filed the first four initiatives on behalf of the coalition with the intention to move one of them forward onto the November ballot after we know the level of commitment we are able to get from current revenues. This approach ensures we are only asking voters for what is absolutely necessary to address our most critical transportation needs.
Why? We have critical needs that have gone unmet for decades. In fact, it’s been almost 25 years since our state has received an increase in tax revenue for transportation. During that same period, Colorado’s population has grown by almost 2 million people and technology is delivering mobility solutions that we aren’t able to take advantage of.
Our failure to invest is costing us real money. Colorado drivers are, on average, paying more than $1,600 a year because of traffic congestion delays, damage to vehicles, accidents and lost gas efficiency. Those costs really add up — in total, Coloradans are paying $6.8 billion annually due to the poor condition of our transportation system.
The solution is as clear as it is hard. We must invest in our transportation system. The coalition has identified critical elements to meet our needs:
There are a number of reasons the coalition is focusing on sales tax over other options:
We know this approach isn’t the easy road — outside of sin taxes, Coloradans haven’t raised taxes since approval of TABOR (the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights) in 1992. But the demand for transportation investment has reached a critical level. Voters have shown us in the past that they will make these investments locally and regionally when there’s a clear plan to solve a challenge we face. We look forward to making that happen on a statewide level.
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