Prop HH is a money grab
Re: “November’s ballot showdown,” Oct. 8 Pro and Con guest commentaries on Prop. HH
Don’t be fooled: Proposition HH uses so-called “property tax relief” to trick you into giving up some of your TABOR tax refunds! It’s a tiny and temporary reduction in your property taxes to lure you into giving up one of the most fiscally responsible check and balance systems in the USA.
TABOR allows state spending to increase over time, but only along with the size of our population and with inflation. Any extra revenue collected must be returned to the taxpayers. It is fair, reasonable, and responsible. Some people want the state legislature to spend all the money it can collect and never return the excess to us.
Many of those people are in the legislature and they keep trying to find ways to stop TABOR and spend extra revenue on whatever they want. That is not fair, reasonable and responsible. They keep trying to kill TABOR through lawsuits and ballot initiatives. Now they are trying again with Proposition HH. This time they are preying on our statewide concern about rising property taxes.
Dig into the long-term impact of HH and you’ll see that our TABOR refunds will be significantly reduced. The worst part? They will give us a little bit back and call it property tax relief. It is not tax relief when they are supposed to give that money back to us anyway. Don’t take the bait. Vote NO on Proposition HH.
Laura Eicher, Highlands Ranch
I have to add my voice to all the others who are talking out against this money grab named Prop HH. Hopefully, people will see that they want to put a dime in your left pocket and take a hundred-dollar bill out of your right pocket.
The people in Denver should really pay attention since they voted in the forever sidewalk tax. HH is going to forever take away your TABOR refund, which is your protection from overspending politicians. The little they knock off your property tax will only be, hopefully, until next year when we can vote for Initiative 50, which will limit increases in property tax to just 4% per year. One year of biting the bullet will save TABOR. It has been keeping the spending in our state down since 1992.
I still laugh when the politicians applaud themselves because they gave us our money early. That was sure nice of them since we know they hated doing it but wanted to use it as a campaign bribe.
Dennis Lubbers, Littleton
Yes, initiatives are a bad way to manage
Re: “Ballot initiatives are a terrible way to govern,” Oct. 8 commentary
Let me state, right up front, that in theory, I completely agree with Krista Kafer that direct democracy is a terrible way to manage wildlife, and wildlife management should be the domain of trained, experienced professionals. Let me also state that I have only lived in Colorado for five years and do not have a great deal of experience with Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s wildlife management. However, I moved to Colorado after a 30-year career in ecosystem management in Pennsylvania, where I interacted frequently with the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
State game and fish departments were intentionally established to be extra-governmental to prevent them from being manipulated by legislative and executive arms of state government. As a result, they become entrenched bureaucracies that are, in fact, largely answerable to no one. In addition, since most of the wildlife management budget comes from hunting and fishing licenses, the agencies’ constituents (i.e., hunters and anglers) have a disproportionate influence.
If, as Kafer somewhat naively suggested, there were some realistic accountability for wildlife managers, I might be more willing to agree fully with her assertions.
And, for the record, I believe gray wolves could be an important component of the ecosystem. Nevertheless, I voted against wolf reintroduction because the animals will simply become hapless pawns that ultimately are going to be shot, poached, or endlessly harassed on the Western Slope.
David J. Robertson, Fort Collins
Although I often disagree with Krista Kafer, I am 100% in agreement with her about the damage government by initiative has done, and can continue to do, to our state. As she points out, James Madison was an avid believer in representative government, not direct voting by all the people.
The simple fact is that when we elect those who make our laws, we can hold them accountable at the next election. If we pass a law by ballot initiative, we have no one accountable if the idea goes awry. Colorado’s Constitution and statutes are jammed full of citizen-passed ideas, many of which run into buzzsaws that the legislature needs to try to make sense of. And all too often, the wording in a ballot issue makes implementation extremely difficult. Please, Coloradans, pay attention to the Blue Book and educate yourselves about ballot issues before you vote.
And don’t forget to pay close attention to which proposals are referred by the legislature and which are on the ballot through citizen initiatives. Again, your Blue Book is an excellent source of information.
Lois Court, Denver
Editor’s note: Court is a former state senator from District 31.
Krista Kafer is right; ballot initiatives are a terrible way to govern. Ironic, though, that she touts the collective expertise of biologists, career wildlife consultants and bureaucrats. Just what we have been saying about the CDC and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the consumer protection agencies and economic policy agencies. But if it is an issue the conservatives like (hunting, guns), now the experts are valid.
Rebecca Urquhart, Estes Park
Carole Baskin is off the mark
Re: “Big cat hunting in Colorado is not for meat,” Oct. 8 letter to the editor
I find it abhorrent that any publisher would publish a letter to the editor with such blatant lies, falsehoods and misinformation. Carole Baskin knows nothing about hunting or game meat, and her way-off-base assumptions are dangerous to the public and to mountain lions.
Selling wild game meat is illegal, hence why it is not inspected by the USDA. Game meat is far safer to eat than any commercially processed meat; just search some headlines about chicken and salmonella and mad cow disease.
Hunters do eat mountain lion and bobcat meat. I have and it’s delicious.
Wasting any big game meat is illegal, so hunters eat and share with their friends.
Managing wildlife populations, such as predators, is key in ethical standards and values of the lives of wildlife and humans. Allowing mountain lion populations to grow unchecked would decimate deer herds and force them into your neighborhoods to hunt your pets.
By the way, these deer and your pets would suffer a grisly death by having their flesh torn from their bones while they are still alive.
Oh, and hunters spend hundreds of dollars, if not thousands, every year to hunt.
Where you get the idea that we hunt for profit is a complete fabrication.
Kara Jensen, Phoenix
“The embrace of autocracy”
Re: “How to save CU’s conservative scholar position from the Eastman-effect,” Oct. 1 commentary
In a recent opinion piece, John Brackney made a point that needs to be repeated and heeded by Republican Conservatives.
“I predict there will be more (Conservatives and Constitutionalists) in the Democratic Party than the Republican Party. Every label and policy has been changing before our eyes. Have you been paying attention?”
Colorado Republicans and all conservatives need to pay attention to the embrace of autocracy, which is dangerously being presented by many of the modern MAGA/GOP. Maybe you always voted Republican … until now? Pay attention!
Elroy Quenroe, Thornton
Locals getting priced out of state
Re: ” ‘It’s never been this bad’ Denver sheriff’s staffing shortage worsens; overtime soars,” Oct. 8 news story
Shelly Bradbury’s story recites a familiar refrain: short staffing, lots of overtime, and struggling to get all the work done. But, while the story is about the Denver Police Department, the same can be said of many public agencies and small businesses throughout Colorado.
Why so? Let’s take a brief look at how our high-priced real estate marketing is making Colorado an increasingly unaffordable place to live.
One reason Colorado real estate is becoming unaffordable for a growing number of workforce professionals is that a huge influx of affluent people are willing to pay premium prices for what used to be workforce housing.
Another reason is that much of this outside money is being invested not to solve our workforce housing shortage but to produce profits for developers and corporate shareholders.
So, instead of us managing our future growth, our future growth is now managing us. And the only way we can respond is to move to another state.
This said, higher property and sales taxes will inevitably be required to support the public infrastructure, which will further add to the exodus of skilled professionals needed to staff our public agencies and private-sector businesses.
Gary E. Goms, Buena Vista
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