Court Opinion

ID: 9559248
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 17:25:01.221643+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:10:23.152786
License: Public Domain

Justice MULLARKEY
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
The majority holds that: (1) the proposed initiative constitutional amendment designated as “Amend Tabor 32” (the Initiative) does not violate the single-subject requirement; (2) the title, ballot title and submission clause correctly and fairly express the true intent of the proposed constitutional amendment; (3) the summary is not confusing or misleading. I agree with the majority’s overall analysis and conclusions except that I would reject the fiscal impact statement, which is part of the summary, because it is affirmatively misleading.
If the initiative title setting board (the Board) determines that a proposed measure will have a fiscal impact on the state or any of its political subdivisions, the Board must include a fiscal impact statement in the summary of the proposed measure. § 1-40-106(3)(a), IB C.R.S. (1995 Supp.). The fiscal impact statement informs the electorate of the fiscal implications of the proposed measure. In re Title, Ballot Title, and Submission Clause Respecting the Proposed Initiated Constitutional Amendment Concerning Limited Gaming in the City of Antonito, 873 P.2d 733, 742 (Colo.1994). As an integral part of the summary of those initiatives requiring it, the fiscal impact statement is subject to the same standards as the summary.
Here, the fiscal impact statement provided the following:
The tax credit applied to state telephone taxes would reduce the growth in state general fund revenue by $348,859,565 during the five-year period beginning with fiscal year 1997-98. The tax credit applied to state income tax returns would reduce the growth in state general fund revenue by $925,521,440 during the same five-year period.
(Emphasis supplied.)
The Board must be scrupulously neutral and fair in preparing its summary. Use of the phrase “reduce the growth” is affirmatively misleading because a reasonable reader would understand it to mean that the state general fund will continue to increase while the state makes refunds to taxpayers and reimbursements to local government as required by the Initiative. In fact, the state will be required to make refunds and reimbursements under the Initiative regardless of whether the general fund increases, decreases, or stays the same. The Board’s descriptions of the Initiative’s effect as “reducing the growth” of the general fund would cause voters to believe that the estimated 1.3 billion dollars over five years, which implementation of the Initiative will cost, will come from excess funds or new money.
In my opinion, the fiscal impact statement should state simply that implementation of the Initiative will reduce the general fund by *133the specified amounts.1 That is a plain, accurate statement as the summary ought to be. It should be left to the proponents and opponents of the Initiative to argue its effect.
Accordingly, I respectfully dissent because I would strike this phrase from the fiscal impact statement portion of the summary.

. In upholding the fiscal impact statement, the majority does not accurately paraphrase the critical language. It states that "the summary fairly reflects that the tax credit will effect a specific reduction in the state general fund during the five year period following the adoption of the Initiative.” Maj. op. at 130 (emphasis added). If that was the wording of the fiscal impact statement, I would have no objection. Unfortunately, the actual phrase used is "reduce the growth" in state general fund revenue.