Could these ballot measures end TABOR as we know it?

So back in 1992, Colorado created a thing called the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, which created a cap on the amount of money the state could spend each year.

that is not based off of the amount of money that the state collects and already approved existing taxes.

It puts a requirement that we can't spend more than the year before other than an adjustment for population growth in Colorado and inflation.

That's Zach Martinez, Director of Policy and Advocacy for Gary Ventures in Denver.

Paul Teske, a professor at CU Denver's School of Public Affairs, explains it this way.

So if population grew 1% last year and inflation was 2%, the most that the state could keep in revenue compared to last year would be a 3% growth combining those two things.

And if the economy was really good, you might have a 5% increase or 10% because taxes would be coming in and lots of people were working and making money.

And so that's where the TABOR cap would be relevant if the amount that came into the government entity like the state was more than the cap that was allowed.

And then that money has to be refunded per Tabor to the taxpayers.

Governments can exempt taxes from the Tabor cap by asking voters, a process colloquially known as de-bruising, in reference to one of Tabor's biggest proponents, Douglas Bruce.

That means that instead of returning any surpluses to taxpayers, the taxing entity can keep the extra revenue.

If the state's Proposition NN passes, it would eliminate these refunds indefinitely and direct the revenue to K-12 education.

A separate measure, Amendment 87, would repeal another essential piece of TABOR, the prohibition on graduated income tax rates.

Basically, this translates to the more you make, the more you pay.

Anyone making less than half a million dollars a year would actually pay less in taxes.

Right now, Colorado is one of only 11 states with a flat tax rate, where everyone pays the same percentage, including corporations.

For Tabor defenders like Penn Pfiffner, chairman of Your Family's Future Alliance, an issue committee fighting Prop NN and Amendment 87, the law is a check on government overreach and power.

Well, remember, the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights... is meant to make sure that we keep that balance between what our families need, that is in the private sector, and what the community needs, everything from education and roads to police and so on.

So if anything, over the last 34 years, taxpayers' Bill of Rights has become ever more important.

You can learn a whole lot more about these measures over at Boulder Valley Frequency in their episode that dropped today.

For our purposes though, think of these two tax measures like this.

Prop NN increases available education funding without raising taxes, but at the expense of your tax refund check.

Amendment 87 would adjust tax rates to be income-based, keeping rates the same or even lowering them for 97% of Coloradans.

Passing these measures could mean the end of TABOR as Colorado knows it.

But since the legislation was passed three decades ago, a vast majority of local governments have taken their own steps to deepers, trading in tax refunds for fewer limits on government spending.