If only elected leaders would show restraint in taxing us

We just received our property tax bill, and, contrary to the promise made by the county commissioners at their Longmont town hall meeting on May 18, 2023, the county portion of our property tax was not limited to 5.5%. My taxes went up 26%. I don’t know if they were lying or simply ignorant of the calculation, but my tax increase was nearly five times larger than promised.

The county tax increase was the best news of the tax bill. School RE1J increased 44%, NCWD increased 47%, SV Left Hand Water increased 47%, and Hygiene Fire taxes increased 59%.

Why did their leaders approve mill levies that would generate such an exorbitant tax bill for their constituents? Just because valuations have increased 40% does not mean that agency expenses have increased commensurately. Why didn’t these leaders adjust the mill levy in order to fund a more reasonable increase that pays only for increased expenses?

In the Feb. 25 Times-call, there is any excellent article on efforts to make tax increases more predictable. Advance Colorado and Colorado Concern are developing voter initiatives that would cap tax increases. A California style Proposition 13 initiative that locks the tax rate until a property is sold would be a disaster for the quality of our schools and other local government agencies. However, a return to 2022 tax rates and a reasonable cap on future increases would provide welcome relief. It would be preferable if we could rely on the elected leaders of our local government agencies to show some restraint on their power to tax us, but our new tax bills make it clear that budget discipline is in short supply, and that it is up to voters to impose artificial restraints on the agencies.