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Our call — vote NO
The measure
This citizen-initiated measure changes both the constitution and the statutes: it repeals the constitutional requirement that all taxable net income be taxed at one flat rate, and enacts a graduated income tax for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2027 — 3.7% on the first $25,000 of taxable income, 4.2% to $100,000, 4.4% to $500,000, 7.4% to $750,000, 7.9% to $1 million, and 8.4% above $1 million, replacing today's flat 4.4%. The added revenue is exempt from the TABOR limit and must supplement funding for K-12 education, health care, and early childhood care and education. Because its constitutional change is a repeal, it passes on a simple majority.
What YES does
A YES vote ends Colorado's flat tax — a feature of the state constitution for decades — and raises rates on income above $500,000 to as high as 8.4%.
What NO does
A NO vote keeps the flat 4.4% rate and the constitutional rule behind it.
The math
Legislative Council Staff forecast added revenue of $958.4 million in budget year 2026-27 and $1.972 billion in 2027-28; the ballot title states a maximum estimate of $2.7 billion annually. Staff estimate about 3.4 million taxpayers would pay an average of $176 less, while roughly 64,000 would pay an average of $39,171 more, with a break-even point near $510,834 of taxable income. The brackets are not indexed to inflation.
OUR CALL
Our call: NO.
The small average cut is the purchase price of a $2 billion-a-year tax increase and the end of the flat tax. Unindexed brackets creep downward onto ordinary earners with inflation, and exempting the new revenue from TABOR removes the voter's refund check on the growth. One rate makes every taxpayer's interest the same. NO.
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Sources
- Ballotpedia, List of Colorado ballot measures — https://ballotpedia.org/List_of_Colorado_ballot_measures
- Colorado 2026 State Ballot Information Booklet (Blue Book), Legislative Council Staff, as reproduced in the Colorado 2026 ballot measures guide — https://whipplewood.com/insights/colorado-2026-ballot-measures-guide/
Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.
AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.