Gov. Bill Ritter, persistent as ever when it comes to tax increases, is refusing to accept a decision by Denver District Court Judge Christina Habas, who ruled that a mill levy freeze in the 2007 School Finance Act is an unconstitutional tax increase.
Ritter has filed a notice of appeal with the state's Court of Appeals, with the decision promising to be resolved by the Colorado Supreme Court. While the case was originally brought against the Colorado Department of Education, Ritter voluntarily intervened as a defendant. Though Ritter has already filed his appeal, the CDE has not yet decided how to proceed.
“What does Ritter know about the Supreme Court that the rest of us don’t?” asks Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute, a free-market think-tank in Golden.
The Independence Institute, along with Mesa County Commissioners and aggrieved property owners, sued CDE over a mill levy freeze that was included in the 2007 School Finance Act.
In addition to Habas, Attorney General John Suthers has opined that the mill levy freeze violates the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, which requires a vote of the people on any tax policy change that results in a net increase of revenue for government.
Republicans suspect that Ritter, a Democrat, is counting on Colorado’s liberal Supreme Court to rule in his favor. Caldara is hinging his hopes of the fact that justices will come to the same conclusion as Habas, who expressed concern as to the multi-million dollar consequences resulting from her decision but who stayed true to her oath to uphold the Constitution.