HB 18-1201

House Bill 18-1201, which has been signed into law, allows Colorado voters to decide whether the state can keep and use money from severance taxes (taxes on natural resource extraction) that would otherwise be refunded due to budget restrictions. This decision only applies in years when refunds are required by a part of the state constitution called TABOR (Taxpayer's Bill of Rights). The bill ensures that any funds kept will not come at the expense of reducing tax exemptions, credits, or local government allocations from severance taxes. If the state changes these conditions later, it would lose the ability to retain those revenues based on voter approval.

Official Summary

The bill requires the secretary of state to refer a ballot issue at the general election held on November 6, 2018, to seek voter approval for the state to retain and spend an amount equal to state severance tax revenue. The change only has effect in years when the state would otherwise be required to make a refund under section 20 of article X of the state constitution (TABOR) and is conditioned on the state not: Repealing or reducing any of the existing severance tax exemptions or credits; or Reducing the percentage of the severance tax revenue that is allocated to local governments. If the state does any of these actions, then the state's authority to retain and spend revenues based on the voters' approval of the referred ballot issue is rescinded at that time and going forward. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) , Read More

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