Court Opinion

ID: 9569209
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:11:30.590521+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:50:19.834046
License: Public Domain

Chief Justice VOLLACK
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
In part II of its opinion, the majority holds that the title board did not violate section 1-40-106(1), 1 C.R.S. (1997), in scheduling a meeting after the third Wednesday in May of 1997. In part III of its opinion, the majority rejects the proponent’s arguments that the title, submission clause, and summary of the proposed initiative are misleading and prejudicial. I concur with the majority on these issues.
In part IV of its opinion, the majority concludes that the summary erroneously omits information regarding the fiscal impact of the proposed measure on school districts. Consequently, the majority remands to the title board with directions to request more information from the office of state planning and budgeting or the department of local affairs (the state agencies). In my view, the summary adequately discusses the fiscal impact the proposed measure would have on the state and its political subdivisions pursuant to section l-40-106(3)(a), 1 C.R.S.- (1997). Accordingly, I dissent to part IV of the majority’s opinion.
*596I.
Section l-40-106(3)(a) provides in pertinent part as follows:
The title board shall prepare a clear, concise summary of the proposed law or constitutional amendment.... The title board may request assistance in the preparation of the summary from the legislative council and, if, in the opinion of the title board, the proposed law or constitutional amendment will have a fiscal impact on the state or any of its political subdivisions, shall request assistance in such matter from the office of state planning and budgeting or the department of local affairs. ... The legislative council, the office of state planning and budgeting, and the department of local affairs shall furnish any assistance requested, and the summary shall include an estimate of any such fiscal impact, together with an explanation thereof
(Emphasis added.)
In this case, the summary describes the fiscal impact of the proposed measure on the state and its political subdivisions as follows:
The fiscal impact of the proposed initiative on local governments other than school districts is indeterminate, but it is not expected to materially affect such local government operations.
State funding of the School Finance Act would increase at a slower rate insofar as the state would not fund its share of the act for one year for students living in newly constructed housing units. Due to a lack of data concerning the number of new students that will be attributed to new housing unit construction and the location of the school district in which the construction and consequent enrollment will occur, the amount of state fiscal impact is indeterminate.
In the year following the assessment of the school impact fees, the state would resume paying for the costs of education for pupils living in the housing units on which the school impact fee was assessed. The fiscal impact of this initiative on the state in years following the first assessment of school impact fees is indeterminate, since it depends on whether the number of students from newly constructed housing units is stable or increases.
The majority holds that the omission of a discussion concerning the proposed measure’s fiscal impact on school districts was error and remands to the title board to request additional information from the state agencies. In my view, remanding for additional information is unnecessary because the summary repeatedly describes the proposed measure’s fiscal impact on the state and its political subdivisions as “indeterminate.”
The proposed measure provides that impact fees shall pay for new capital improvements in schools “necessitated by increased student population from newly constructed housing units.” Additionally, the proposed measure requires that impact fees finance one year of salaries and benefits for added personnel. Currently, state funding to meet the needs of increased school enrollment comes to school districts through operation of the School Finance Act, §§ 22-54-101 to -21, 7 C.R.S. (1997).
The proposed measure’s applicability is dependent on future growth and home building within the school districts of this state. While some school districts may grow at alarming rates, others may experience declining or stagnant growth that never implicates the proposed measure. It is therefore impossible to accurately quantify the proposed measure’s statewide fiscal impact. For this reason, the summary repeatedly explains that the fiscal impact of the proposed measure is indeterminate.
The summary expressly excludes school districts from its explanation of fiscal impact because the title board did not receive fiscal impact data on school districts from either the state agencies or the proponent.11 However, it can be easily inferred from the summary that the fiscal impact on school districts would also be indeterminate. This is especially apparent from the fiscal impact discussion regarding state funding under the *597School Finance Act. The summary explains that state fiscal impact under the School Finance Act is indeterminate due to a lack of adequate data concerning the number of students living in newly constructed housing and the different school districts involved. It therefore follows that the potential fiscal impact on school districts, which receive funding under the School Finance Act, must also be indeterminate.
II.
In my view, remanding this question to the title board will not lead to the inclusion of any meaningful information in the summary. Following the request for information and the submission of the state agencies’ reports, the summary will most likely include a statement that the fiscal impact on school districts is indeterminate. In my view, the value of including this information in the summary is clearly outweighed by the time and expense involved in obtaining it. Accordingly, I dissent to part IV of the majority’s opinion.

. In fact, the proponent argued before the title board that the summary should omit any reference to fiscal impact because this information was not “applicable or informative.”