Denver November 2003 Election
Backers of Referendum A are on the streets knocking on doors and putting up yard signs, according to the Denver Post [October 20, 2003, "Water-measure backers reach out"].
Here's a link to an in-depth piece on the political currents around Referendum A from the Denver Post [October 19, 2003, "Owens uses Norton visit to push water ballot issue"]. From the article, "Colorado's debates over water this fall have become highly political. The state's highest-profile politicians have nearly all stepped into the fray. And for many of them, Referendum A provides a platform to showcase their ambitions for higher office. Many of the leading proponents and opponents are politicians on the rise."
Money is coming in from business in support of Amendment 32, according to the Denver Post [October 19, 2003, "Corporations' gifts lead jump in funds for Amend. 32 backers"]. From thea article, "Amendment 32, a favorite of state Senate Majority Leader Norma Anderson, R-Lakewood, would raise the assessment rate of all residential property taxes in the state from 7.96 percent to 8 percent of their current market value. Currently, the assessment rate floats every two years and has been dropping steadily since the Gallagher Amendment was adopted in 1982. Amendment 32 would eliminate the floating assessment rate and freeze it at 8 percent. Businesses currently are assessed for taxing purposes at 29 percent of their market value. Amendment 32 also would abolish the requirement that residential property taxes be capped at supplying only 45 percent of all property taxes. Businesses now must make up the remaining 55 percent of revenue to be raised. The two factors combined have restricted the growth of residential property tax rates to the point that a business now must pay roughly four times more in taxes than would be charged to a residential property with the same market value."
The Denver Post is urging voters to reject Amendment 32 [October 19, 2003, "Vote 'no' on Amendment 32"]. From the editiorial, "Amendment 32 on this fall's statewide ballot is a classic attempt to lock the barn door after the horse has already escaped. Intended to fix some of the fiscal problems created by the 1982 Gallagher Amendment, it could result in setting the state's fiscal crisis even more firmly into constitutional concrete." Constitutional concrete?
Councilman Charlie Brown still opposes Jeff Peckman's ordinance, Initiative 101, but he doesn't doesn't seem as stressed about it, according to the Denver Post [October 20, 2003, "Peace initiative irks foes"]. Brown now says it will hur the image that Mayor Hickenlooper being crafted by Mayor Hickenlooper that Denver is "Open for business."
The Rocky Mountain News [October 19, 2003, "Vote 'no' on the Big Three"] editorial staff has printed a summary of their posistions on the issues for the November 4th ballot.
Joanne Ditmer is urging voters to reject Amendment 33 in her column this week in the Post [October 19, 2003, "Slot machines would cheat our history"]. She's opposed because the amendment will take money from the State Historical Fund and does not provide relief for communities where the race tracks are located.
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