Tax Commission issues final report

by Ray Christensen, Executive Vice-President, Colorado Farm Bureau
Colorado Farm Bureau News, November 2002

The Colorado Commission on Taxation, of which I was a member, has dissolved itself I was appointed to the Commission by then Senate President Ray Powers. It was an excellent opportunity to ensure that CFB had a seat at the table and for the ag industry to have an impact on Colorado's tax policy.

While our mission was to look at the "principles and values" of all Colorado citizens, our direct interest was protection of the agricultural land classification for property taxes and protecting existing sales tax exemptions for farm equipment, chemicals, animal health products and other ag tax exemptions now in law. The legislature, as a matter of state public policy, has already decided those exemptions are important to our agricultural industry. Farmers and ranchers continue to pay local, state and federal taxes on a variety of items just Re others do.

The Commission was authorized by the Legislature in 2000, reauthorized in 2001, but legislation to continue the work was vetoed by the Governor. No state funding was authorized, although we received staff sup- port from the Department of Local Affairs and the Legislative Council. Funding was primarily made through private donations.

Even without huge sums of money, the Commission was able to accomplish a number of important things for policy makers and for citizens.

According to the final report, the Commission reviewed Colorado's state and local tax system to determine whether it embodies the principles and values of Colorado's citizens, communicated with taxpayers impacted by these systems, and made recommendations that work toward promoting such principles and values.