Seal of Colorado Colorado

Colorado has the strongest tax and expenditure limit in the nation, the Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights, also known as TABOR. It is a constitutional TEL passed in 1992 by voter approval covered in Article 10 Section 20 of the Colorado State Constitution. TABOR has both a revenue limitation and an expenditure limitation. The revenue limitation applies to all tax revenue, prevents new taxes and fees, and must be overridden by popular vote. Expenditures are limited to revenue from the previous year plus the sum of inflation plus population growth. Any revenue more than this limitation must be refunded with interest to Colorado citizens. TABOR includes both state and local governments.

In 2000, voters approved Amendment 23, which exempted education spending and the state education fund from TABOR. In addition, Referendum C was approved by voters in 2005, suspending TABOR from FY 2006-2010. Referendum C allowed the state to retain and spend all revenue collected under the “Referendum C cap” which is set at FY 2007-2008 revenue (the year with the highest level of revenue during the TABOR suspension) plus the sum of inflation plus population growth. Surplus revenue in excess of the cap must still be refunded to Colorado Taxpayers. These exemptions, however, allowed the state to increase taxes and spending.

 
The base year represents the year the hypothetical Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) would have been enacted. Selecting a base year changes how the state’s TABOR is calculated because the annual growth rates of inflation and population change depending on when TABOR is enacted.
  • Year Inflation-adjusted Actual Spending
    1992 8,234,000,000
    1993 8,935,500,000
    1994 10,013,330,000
    1995 10,791,940,000
    1996 11,497,040,000
    1997 10,405,430,000
    1998 7,176,610,000
    1999 13,507,940,000
    2000 13,789,500,000
    2001 14,814,470,000
    2002 14,437,440,000
    2003 14,957,280,000
    2004 14,269,920,000
    2005 14,562,170,000
    2006 15,439,490,000
    2007 24,264,250,000
    2008 24,467,110,000
    2009 27,054,170,000
    2010 25,991,180,000
    2011 25,328,240,000
    2012 23,826,720,000
    2013 25,183,680,000
    2014 25,600,830,000
    2015 27,989,020,000
    2016 29,386,800,000
    2017 29,090,320,000
    2018 30,782,680,000
    2019 32,858,330,000
    2020 30,639,000,000
*All spending figures are in inflation-adjusted 2020 dollars.
**The hypothetical TABOR for Colorado shows the limit if TABOR had not been altered in 2000, suspended from 2006-2010, and altered in 2007.