DENVER Shhhh ... Dont tell anyone, but theres a major statewide election in less than a month.
Proposition 103 asks voters to raise income and sales taxes to fund schools and colleges.
If it passes, it would be just the second voter-approved increase in tax rates since 1992, when the Taxpayers Bill of Rights began requiring voter approval for tax hikes. In 2004, voters agreed to raise tobacco taxes.
Despite the importance of the question it would mean an extra $2.9 billion in tax revenue for schools over five years the pro- and anti-103 campaigns are largely flying under the radar.
The pro-103 campaign, Support Our Schools for a Brighter Colorado, led by state Sen. Rollie Heath, has ramped up in the last two weeks.
Fundraising reports filed Monday with the Secretary of State show the campaign has raised $385,000. A veteran Colorado political observer called it a paltry sum for a statewide campaign.
If Rollie Heath is able to pass this measure, it would defy all conventional political wisdom, said Eric Sondermann, a political consultant who is not working on any campaign related to Prop 103.
Sondermann cited the shaky economy, a volatile political environment, a small coalition in favor of 103 and a lack of dollars for advertising as factors that Heaths campaign needs to overcome.
Health, a Democrat, didnt disagree with Sondermann.
It would be a national story, because were the only ones in the country doing this, Heath said.
The campaign has not done polling, but Heath said he has felt good support as he travels the state. He thinks the election will hinge on which voters return their ballots. He expects low turnout.
The pro-103 campaign has a few major donors.
The Gary Williams Co., a Denver oil company, kicked in $200,000. The Colorado Education Association, a teachers union, contributed $50,000. The American Federation of Teachers and Colorado AFL-CIO contributed smaller amounts.
The opposition campaign, Save Colorado Jobs, did not raise any money the last two weeks. All but $50 of its $10,050 in fundraising so far this year comes from the campaign chairman, Republican former state Rep. Victor Mitchell.
We are prepared to spend whatever it takes to get our message out there. We are raising money as we speak, Mitchell said.
His campaign has made more than 25 presentations around the state, and it is using social media like Twitter to build opposition to Prop 103, he said.
A second anti-103 campaign, Too Taxing for Colorado, has raised just $3,327 so far. Its biggest expense has been $240 for a website.
Sondermann said opposition fundraising is of secondary importance.
The opposition doesnt have to prove their case, he said.
For comparison, the last big fiscal measure on the ballot was Referendum C in 2005. It asked voters to give up their TABOR tax rebates for five years, and it had the benefit of a large bipartisan campaign headed by a Republican governor, Bill Owens.
They still got barely 50 percent of the vote, and that campaign spent 20 times $380,000 (Prop 103s total so far), Sondermann said.
Proposition 103 asks voters to raise their income taxes to 5 percent, up from 4.63 percent. It also asks for a sales tax hike to 3 percent, up from 2.9 percent. The increases would expire after five years, and the extra money would be earmarked for K-12 schools and public colleges.
The only public poll in the race is from Aug. 11. The Public Policy Polling survey of 510 Colorado voters showed 45 percent support for a tax hike and 47 percent opposition a spread that was within the margin of error of 4.3 percent.
Mail ballots go out beginning next Tuesday.
Reach Joe Hanel at joeh@cortezjournal.com.
