Making a better Taxpayer's Bill of Rights.

• Author: Poulson, Barry
• Position: Letters - Letter to the Editor

Editor:

I read with interest your article by Chris Frates ("Fiscal Folly," January 2005), in which he largely blames Colorado's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights for the state's budget challenges.

Unfortunately, he failed to mention that the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights proposals being discussed in other states improve on Colorado's version in several important ways.

First, I must point out that the Colorado's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights has been an overwhelming success since it was first enacted in 1992. More than $3 billion in surplus revenue has been returned to the state's taxpayers and spending has been kept under control.

While Colorado's experience has been overwhelmingly positive, it has not been perfect, which is why the proposals in other states include budget stabilization and emergency funds that Colorado doesn't have right now. These proposals would prevent Colorado's so-called "ratchet-down" effect to better handle economic downturns. In addition, as Frates does...