Tabor Amendment
The TABOR (Tax Payer’s Bill of Rights (PDF)) Amendment controls the amount of revenue that local governments and taxing entities can collect and spend. However, if an entity has "deduced," some or all of the restrictions placed on the amount of revenue they can collect and spend imposed by the Tabor Amendment have been lifted. Additionally, Colorado State Statute sets a 5.5% limit on the annual percentage increase that taxing entities can increase their revenues. Some taxing entities have had this revenue restriction removed by the voters. You can get this information directly from each taxing authority or from the Department of Local Affairs, State of Colorado, at 303-864-7720.
Gallagher Amendment
The reason vacant land and commercial property has been historically currently assessed at 29%, and residential homes at 7.15%, was because of the Gallagher Amendment. This amendment to the Colorado Constitution, approved by the voters in 1982 and overturned by the voters in 2020, limited the residential share of property taxes. The State Legislature previously adjusted the residential assessment rate each reappraisal year. From 2004 to 2016, the residential assessment rate remained at 7.96%. In 2017, the rate dropped to 7.2%, and in 2019 the rate dropped to 7.15%, where it remains fixed for future years.
For more information, refer to the explanation of the repeal of the Gallagher Amendment from the Property Tax Administration, the Colorado Legislative Council regarding these amendments, or the Constitutional Provisions page of the Colorado Department of the Treasury.