House Finance Committee advances bill to clarify TABOR exceptions for damage awards and property sales

The Colorado House Finance Committee on Oct. 12 advanced Senate Bill 173 to the Appropriations Committee after a roughly 90-minute hearing in which sponsors said the bill narrowly defines two TABOR exceptions and witnesses urged support to improve budgeting.

Senate Bill 173 would add statutory clarifications to two categories already listed as exceptions to the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR): "damage awards" and "property sales." Sponsors told the committee the measure is intended to make it clearer which types of civil penalties, fines and small state sales are exempt from the TABOR revenue limit and therefore need not be refunded to taxpayers.

"This bill defines these terms further," said Caroline Nutter, legislative coordinator at the Colorado Fiscal Institute, placing the proposal in the context of Article X, Section 20 of the Colorado Constitution. "Defining these exclusions from the TABOR cap to better reflect recent state legislation and our modernizing economy allows us to budget more accurately and effectively."

The bill drafts specific examples of receipts that would qualify as damage awards or property sales. Sponsors and testimony cited civil penalties collected by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for nursing…