Mayor John Beltrone: Breaking Down the Ballot Measures

Edgewater Mayor John Beltrone

From Edgewater Mayor John Beltrone:

Ballots for the state’s general election have been mailed out, making this a good time to look at the measures we’ll be considering. While there are no Edgewater-specific races or ballot measures, there are a number of important state and county ballot questions. The lettered ballot measures originated in the state legislature, and the numbered measures came from citizen initiatives. Below is a summary of each based on my review of the State and County ballot information books (aka the Blue Book).

Remember to vote by Election Day on November 8. You can vote by mail, drop box, or in person.  The Civic Center’s ballot drop box is now open and will have in-person voting November 4-8, excluding Sunday the 6th. With all the easy ways to vote, I am hoping Edgewater can beat the 62% voter turnout during the last mid-term election in 2018.

3 Proposed Amendments to the Colorado Constitutional (Passes with 55% of the vote)

Amendment D: The state legislature created Judicial District 23 in 2020, but there is no legal mechanism in place to ensure the proper seating of the judges. This amendment would direct the governor to reassign judges from the existing 18^th Judicial District to the new one.

Amendment E: The homestead exemption reduces property taxes owed on a primary residence for qualifying homeowners. This amendment would extend this exemption to surviving spouses of military service members.

Amendment F: Currently, nonprofits that have been in operation in Colorado for five or more years are allowed to apply for a bingo/raffle license but are not allowed to pay bingo/raffle workers. This amendment reduces the number of years from five to three and gradually allows full wages to be paid to bingo/raffle workers.

8 Propositions to Change to Colorado Revised Statutes (Passes with a majority vote)

Proposition FF: Creates a program that provides access to free breakfasts and lunches for all public school students in Colorado, regardless of family income. Pays for the program by increasing state income taxes for households making over $300,000 and with additional federal funding.

Proposition GG: Requires that a tax information table be included on petitions and ballots for any citizen-initiated measure that changes the individual state income tax rate. For example, if this were already in effect, Proposition 121 (the next measure) would have the following table format:

Proposition 121: Reduces the state income tax from 4.55% to 4.40% for individuals and corporations starting tax year 2022. State income taxes are the main source of revenue for the state General Fund which pays for general government operations such as education, human services, and corrections. This measure is expected to reduce state income tax collections by $412.6 million. Below is a chart that shows how the reduction would impact taxpayers at different income levels:

Proposition 122: Allows supervised use of psychedelic mushrooms at licensed facilities, directs the state to set up a regulatory system for these facilities, and expands the types of substances that may be used in these facilities. It also decriminalizes the growing, sharing, and use of five psychedelic substances by individuals over age 21.

Proposition 123: Reserves a portion of state income tax (up to 0.1%) for affordable housing programs and exempts that money from the state’s revenue limit (part of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, or TABOR). The money would be spent on acquiring land for affordable housing development; developing affordable housing; assisting in financing projects, home ownership programs, and homelessness programs; and supporting local governments implementing the projects.

Proposition 124: Currently, retail liquor stores are only allowed to have three locations; in 2027, that increases to four. This measure would allow retail liquor stores to increase the number of locations over time, with no limit after 2037.

Proposition 125: Allows grocery and convenience stores that are licensed to sell beer to also sell wine.

Proposition 126: Allows third-party companies to deliver alcohol directly to customers on behalf of grocery stores, convenience stores, liquor stores, bars, restaurants, and other liquor-licensed businesses. It would also permanently allow takeout and delivery of alcohol from bars and restaurants, which is currently scheduled to be repealed in 2025.

3 Jefferson County Ballot Measures (Passes with a majority vote)

Ballot Issue 1A: Allows Jefferson County to collect, retain, and spend all non-property tax revenue. This primarily deals with state funding such as grant money sent to the county, which is currently included in the tax revenue pool to calculate TABOR refunds. This would allow the county to avoid refunding grant dollars.

Ballot Issue 1B: Authorizes the manufacturing and sale of marijuana in the unincorporated parts of Jefferson County.

Ballot Issue 1C: Allows Jefferson County to tax marijuana in Unincorporated Jefferson County between 3% and 6% (in addition to other sales taxes). The funds would be spent on public safety operations and would not be included in the tax revenue pool to calculate TABOR refunds.

Contact Mayor John Beltrone at jbeltrone@edgewaterco.com or 720-643-6077.

Joel Newton

Joel has been a resident of Edgewater, Colorado with his family since 2012. He is the Executive Director of local education nonprofit Edgewater Collective and Editor of the Edgewater Echo.