I was selected for some market research regarding Proposition HH.
Colorado has a Tax Payer’s Bill of Rights, which in practice means tax increases have to pass a referendum. If Colorado collects more money than a set threshold, the state must return this to Coloradoans. The threshold is a matter of law. Most years, we get a refund.
Proposition HH increases refunds this year but increases the threshold for next year, meaning this year people making less than 100k get a bigger refund and after that, refunds will be smaller. The retained money will be earmarked for schools. There is also a rebate on property taxes. For me, a renter making less than 100k, I’ll get a bigger refund this tax year (so next calendar year) and lower refunds every year after with no gain from reduced property taxes.
This is very poorly explained, and the market research consisted of extremely misleading factoids. They asked questions like, ‘Would hearing that big business and millionaires oppose Proposition HH make you more or less likely to vote for it?’ Nothing ever really talked about what HH did. I had to do a lot of digging to get an explanation, and the writeup of ballot language didn’t clearly explain the bill at all. The research survey left me feeling like someone was trying to manipulate me and not doing a subtle job of it.
What’s weird is that I’m not necessarily against HH. It’s a tax hike, and sometimes taxes go up. That’s life. But I really didn’t like feeling like someone was trying to swindle me.