Amendment 87 supporters declare victory on Colorado’s graduated income tax measure despite no clear winner

DENVER Supporters of Amendment 87, the ballot measure that would lower state income taxes for the majority of Coloradans while raising them for the states wealthiest, declared victory despite projections showing no clear winner as of Thursday afternoon.

The proposal would rewrite the states tax code under the Colorado Taxpayer Bill of Rights, more commonly known as TABOR, by dissolving the current 4.4% flat income tax rate and replacing it with a graduated income tax rate bracket. People and businesses making less than $500,000 per year would see a drop in their state income taxes, while those making above $500,000 would see their taxes go up.

As of late Thursday afternoon, however, the proposal had no clear winner. The Associated Press had not yet called a winner as of 3:15 p.m., with results favoring the measure 50.8% to 49.2% a 1.6% margin.

See the latest election results of this amendment here:

Still, supporters of the measure said they were confident enough in calling the race based on ballot trends that showed a significant portion of outstanding ballots were left to count in Denver and Boulder counties where the measure is favored 2-to-1.

The passage of the graduated income tax is a historic change in Colorados tax structure, and is the first major overhaul in nearly four decades, Amendment 87 supporters said in a news release. It will bring in about $2 billion a year for critical services that Coloradans need healthcare, childcare, and K-12 education.

Amendment 87 encountered setbacks by conservative dark-money groups who spent millions to stop the measure from reaching Colorado voters, and also faced pushback from at least two prominent Colorado Democrats.

In an interview with Denver7 two weeks away from Election Day, Gov. Jared Polis described the ballot measure as really the most dangerous for Colorado and called it misleading. When pressed by Denver7 political reporter Colette Bordeloon as to whether it would personally impact him, Polis did not directly answer the question, only saying he was really focused on what it does for businesses.

Governor-elect Phil Weiser also came out against the measure just days before Election Day, saying it was the wrong approach to introduce a progressive income tax in the state.

A conservative-backed measure put before Colorado voters that would have capped the states income tax rate at its current 4.4% for both individuals and corporations was losing as of Thursday afternoon, with 52.4% of the votes against it.

Should Amendment 87 pass, it will join Proposition NN, which would allow the state to raise the TABOR cap permanently and use refunds to fund educational programs for the next 10 years.

Proposition 137, which would also re-direct money away from TABOR, was also slated to pass. The ballot measure would re-direct already existing sales tax revenue from sporting equipment and using that to fund wildfire risk reduction efforts. This would result in lower TABOR refund checks in some years.