Two bills passed during the four-day special session that ended Thursday.

HB 24B-1001, the main measure that proposes a complicated multi-year phase in of both reductions in assessment rates (the percentage of a property’s value that is subject to tax) and ceilings on annual growth in local government property tax revenues, passed the House 45-18 and the Senate 30-4.

The bill sets separate systems for school districts and for other units of local government. In exchange for passage and signing of this bill, Advance Colorado and Colorado Concern have agreed to withdraw Initiative 50 and Proposition 108 from the Nov. 5 ballot and to not propose other property tax related measures for six years.

The Denver Post reported that Governor Polis expects to sign the bill next week. The deadline for withdrawing the ballot measures is Sept. 6.

HB 24B-1003 changes some business personal property tax provisions affecting agricultural equipment. This is meant to be a “clean up” bill that was allowed because it fit under the Governor’s call terms for the special session. It passed 47-16 in the House and 26-8 in the Senate.

A total of nine bills and four concurrent resolutions were introduced. Seven bills and all of the resolutions were killed in committee. Most were “statement” measures proposed by either progressive Democrats or conservative Republicans.

The defeated measure of most interest was HCR 24B-1001, a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed voters in local government units to reject any property tax limits approved by voters statewide. Constitutional measures require 2/3 of the votes to pass; it passed the House with exactly the 44 votes needed, but it didn’t have a path to 2/3 in the Senate, so it was postponed indefinitely in committee at the Senate sponsor’s request.

For more analysis and information about the bills and the debates, see our full 2024 Special Session Report.