DENVER – Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers is at odds with county commissioners across the state over a bill considered by the Colorado General Assembly on Tuesday that he said would “stop the bleeding” of property tax transportation funds intended for cities.

“What’s frustrating to me is to this very day, when county taxpayers get their tax bill, they think a significant portion of that is going to the municipalities, and in many of the counties that is no longer true,” Suthers said, as he testified before the Senate Transportation Committee on Senate Bill 100. “It doesn’t give back all the money that has been lost. It just stops the bleeding.”

Gini Pingenot, legislative director for Colorado Counties Inc., said the bill attempts to strip county commissioners of their budget management powers and hand a significant portion of it to the municipalities within the county.

“They are custodians of property tax. They are required to develop a budget within the allowable revenue streams,” Pingenot said. “It really boils down to there is an entity that is unhappy with the decisions that are being made by the board of county commissioners.”

At issue are the property taxes that lawmakers empowered counties to levy for the purpose of funding transportation. That happened four decades ago, with the mandate that half of the revenue from the mill levy go to the municipality where the tax revenue was generated.

Suthers said two different state Supreme Court rulings on the case have come down on either side of the issue. And the most recent ruling empowered counties to reduce their road and bridges mill levy while raising a different mill levy and staying under the cap that was imposed by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

The county then gets to retain more of the tax revenue without having to participate in the road and bridges share back that is part of the law.

“The result is last year Colorado Springs only got $750,000 in road and bridge funds,” Suthers said. “To reiterate, in 2007 we got $3.25 million. In the ensuing seven years, we’ve lost an average of $2.2 million a year, for a total of $15.45 million.”

Rio Blanco County Commissioner Shawn Bolton likened the decisions being made at the county level to when lawmaker’s rob and pilfer the severance tax revenue that is intended to be shared with counties impacted by oil and gas development.

“This is not just the counties. This is the trickle-down effect from the state,” Bolton said.

Pingenot said she can argue at the Capitol against spending severance tax dollars on things other than counties, but at the end of the day, lawmakers make the decision – just like at the county level, the decision lies with commissioners on how to spend mill levy revenue.

Members of the transportation committee postponed a vote on the bill to try to give the sides a chance to compromise.

Sen. Cheri Jahn, D-Wheat Ridge, said she introduced the bill after learning how badly legislative intent was being ignored.

“This is about fiscal fair play,” Jahn said. “There is supposed to be a 50/50 split, and that’s not happening.”

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Contact Megan Schrader: 719-286-0644

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers speaks with the Gazette editorial board Thursday, July 18, 2013. Suthers announced today, Tuesday, September 2, 2014, that he plans to run for Colorado Springs mayor in April’s municipal election. Michael Ciaglo, The Gazette

Michael Ciaglo, The Gazette