Supporters of Colorado’s Graduated Income Tax 87 Claim Victory

Supporters of Amendment 87, the ballot measure that would raise income taxes on high earners as part of a sweeping rewrite of Colorado’s tax code, declared victory Thursday after two days of vote counting.

The Associated Press had not yet reported passage of the measure, but its narrow margin widened early Thursday evening as metro Denver counties reported more results. Support was 51.2% as of 5:35 p.m., a margin of nearly 2.4 percentage points over “no” votes.

Supporters said they felt confident based on where the remaining votes were to be counted — with a significant share in left-leaning Denver and Boulder counties, where the measure won by 2-to-1 margins.

“It’s a great day for Colorado,” Chris deGruy Kennedy, president and CEO of the Bell Policy Center, the liberal group that put the measure on the ballot, said during a celebration at La Raza Park, northwest of Denver, Thursday afternoon.

“This is a signal from voters,” he said, “that we are fundamentally changing the direction in which we are going to make sure Colorado’s economy supports every working person, every senior, every child and everyone in between.”

Amendment 87 represents the most sweeping change to Colorado tax policy in more than a generation. It’s also a stunning breakthrough for liberal groups supporting the measure, which have had to overcome millions of dollars in spending from conservative dark money groups, attempts to block the measure in court and criticism from top Democrats.

Among them were outgoing Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat who is a longtime activist against the income tax, and Gov.-elect Phil Weiser, who came out against the measure just days before Election Day.

Liberal groups also had to fend off a competing measure, Proposition 136, backed by the conservative advocacy group Advance Colorado, which would have capped the state’s income tax rate at its current level of 4.4 percent. The measure, which was losing by a margin of nearly 5.5 percentage points Thursday night, seemed doomed to defeat.

Michael Fields, president of Advance Colorado, did not respond to a request for comment on 87 supporters declaring victory. Earlier in the day, before the campaign announcement, he declined to comment on the potential impacts of passing the amendment.

Under Amendment 87, Colorado’s flat income tax rate would be abolished and replaced with a graduated tax that would raise taxes on people and businesses earning more than $500,000 a year, while reducing taxes for the vast majority of Colorado residents. It does this by repealing a requirement in the Colorado Constitution that all taxable income be taxed at a single rate.

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Proponents chose to remove text from the constitution, rather than add words, to avoid needing to secure the support of 55 percent of voters. Rather, it would make the most detailed changes to state law. As a result, Amendment 87 only needs a simple majority to pass.

The measure is expected to generate about $2 billion in additional revenue for the state next year, which the Legislature could spend on education, health care and child care.

Conservatives and business groups, as well as Democrats like Polis, have warned the measure would amount to a massive tax increase that would make Colorado’s business landscape less competitive.

In a statement, Loren Furman, president and CEO of the Colorado Chamber of Commerce, one of the groups opposing 87, said businesses are already grappling with rising costs as they try to pay salaries and support their employees.

“These tax increases would force businesses to make difficult decisions about wages, hiring and future investments,” Furman said.