Property tax redux, crucial land-use votes at in Colorado legislature

There are now just 10 days left in the 2024 Colorado legislative session. With a number of hefty bills still in the legislative pipeline, that means 10 days of long nights, voting marathons and hectic scrambling lie ahead of us.

Or, to paraphrase how one senator put it to The Denver Post last week: Go outside, touch grass, and kiss your families goodbye for a little while.

The bulk of Gov. Jared Polis’ land-use reform package is still winding its way through the Capitol, though it’s nearing various decision points. Two bills — to eliminate minimum parking requirements and to allow for accessory-dwelling units across the Front Range — both cleared Senate committee votes last week. The parking measure is now headed to the floor, while the ADU bill must next clear Senate Appropriations.

Meanwhile, the centerpiece of the package — HB24-1313 — is in limbo.

The bill would require local governments to set housing density goals in transit-rich areas, averaging out to 40 units per acre in qualifying areas, and then come up with a plan to hit those targets. The measure is set for a haircut that would strip out penalties that have chafed local governments, but that work has been twice delayed because of concerns from Denver Democratic Sen. Julie Gonzales, as The Post reported over the weekend. She’s the vice chair and a deciding vote on the Senate’s Local Government and Housing Committee, where the bill has stalled.

That bill is still not on the calendar for a third try, though Senate leadership could call a special meeting of the committee Monday or later this week (the committee has a scheduled meeting Tuesday). But the calendar is bearing down: As it’s written, the bill needs two more committee votes before heading to the floor for what will likely be two more contentious votes. Should it pass the Senate, its House and Senate sponsors will then need to negotiate changes made in the Senate.

Finally, the fourth land-use bill — SB24-174, requiring local governments to undertake regular housing studies — is in the House and needs its own calendar date with the House’s Transportation, Local Government and Housing Committee.

Here’s what else to expect this week.

Unveiling property tax bill

Time is likewise running short for lawmakers to crack the code on property tax reforms.

The commission tasked with finding long-term reforms to how the state handles the policy met Friday to discuss draft legislation being proposed by Sen. Chris Hansen, a Denver Democrat and the lead on property tax legislation for the past several legislative sessions. The draft included cuts to the assessment rate for non-residential properties, limits property tax revenue for non-home rule local governments and school districts and increased how much a property’s value could be exempted from the formula used to determine property taxes.

But it’s unclear how much of that draft language will make it into the introduced language, much less any tinkering lawmakers may do as it races through the chamber before the end of the session.

Some lawmakers on the commission characterized it as deciding between cuts and caps. Meaning: Do they cap how much can local governments can collect, thus stopping future cases of property tax sticker shock? Or do they cut collections, and put the state in the position of mandating service cuts or cutting state services to make up for local governments’ lost revenue?

Final stretch for gun bills

The bill to ban the sale, purchase and transfer of “assault” weapons is still awaiting a hearing date in the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee. It faces a tough road there, given that a potentially deciding vote — Sen. Tom Sullivan, the chamber’s point-person on gun reform — is openly skeptical of the policy.

A slew of other gun bills are approaching the finish line, too: A group of House and Senate lawmakers met Monday morning to hash out contentious differences in HB24-1348, which regulates safe storage of firearms in vehicles. Floor votes are set this week for bills to require gunowners hold liability insurance (HB24-1270); to bolter state law enforcement’s investigations of illegal gun sales (SB24-003); and to further limit the places where a gun can be carried (SB24-131). A handful more need committee votes.