Taxpayers Challenge Colorado Fire District’s Tax Rate

Thirty-one taxpayers in Cimarron Hills, Colorado have filed suit against the Cimarron Hills Fire Protection District challenging the district’s tax rate, and seeking over $2 million that was illegally collected going back to 2004.

The suit was filed on December 30, 2010 under the Colorado Taxpayer Bill of Rights, nicknamed TABOR. It prohibits state and local government from raising tax rates without voter approval. Tabor was enacted in 1992 as a state constitutional amendment. Its impact on the Colorado economy is the source of great debate with some claiming it to be of great value and other decrying it as a "formula for decline".

The plaintiffs claim that the maximum legal tax rate that the district can assess is 7.598 mills, and are seeking a refund of all illegal tax revenues collected plus 10 percent interest per year, and an injunction to restrict the district’s spending of funds that exceeds the mill levy of 7.598 mills. The current tax rate collected by Cimarron Hills is 11.11 mills.

The district reports that if the suit is successful, there will be major reductions in staff and the potential to lose the ability to effectively serve the public.

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