Local biz groups laud Polis’ call for special session on property taxes

BOULDER — Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday called for Colorado lawmakers to return to Denver for a special legislative session on property-tax relief, a move supported by local business groups.

“My Northwest Chamber Alliance colleagues have unified in their concern about the high property tax rates, and as such they have joined in communicating the need for property tax relief,” Boulder Chamber CEO John Tayer told BizWest on Friday. “That’s something we did as a group. I feel confident that there is similar sentiment across the region regarding the need for property tax relief for our businesses and commercial property owners.”

Tayer noted that while the members of Northwest Chamber Alliance, a coalition of chambers of commerce in Boulder and Broomfield counties, agree that property taxes are an important issue, the group has not taken an official position on Polis’ call for a special session.

“We’re really glad that the state legislature took some initial positive steps forward during the last session to address the deep concerns that our businesses and property owners have regarding the significant increase in property taxes that we’ve been facing,” Tayer said. “It’s clear that there’s interest to identify further opportunities to reduce that burden. We’ve supported the call for a special session and we’re glad that the governor responded positively to that appeal.”

Tayer added that local business groups want to ensure that any property-tax reductions “are responsible. We want to be assured that we’re not doing anything that damages critical education programs and other critical services that property taxes fund.”

The special session, which is set to begin Aug. 26,  “builds on the work of (previously approved tax-relief measure) SB 24-233 by further reducing assessment rates and adjusting the local and school district caps,” Polis’ office said in a news release. “Under this framework, estimates suggest that property owners will save $270 million on their taxes on top of the relief provided in SB24-233 in Property Tax Year 2025, and more in future years.”

Polis and his allies in the Colorado Legislature also hope to combat a pair of ballot measures supported by conservative lawmakers that would cut taxes and potentially gut funding for state and local governments and schools. 

“We are focused on saving Coloradans money on property taxes, and in doing so, protecting school funding and higher education, preserving our economic competitiveness, and avoiding risky ballot measures,” Polis said in a prepared statement.  “The cost of inaction is too high. We refuse to gamble with our schools, our economy, our future. Proposed ballot measures threaten to gut funding for K-12 and higher education, and Coloradans are counting on us to find a path forward that saves people money on property taxes while preserving these critical institutions.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify that the Northwest Chamber Alliance has not taken an official position on Polis’ call for a special session.