Lawmaker says Colorado will receive a windfall from Marshall Fire if use taxes aren't waived
State lawmakers are considering a bill to waive or refund millions of dollars in taxes for people impacted by certain wildfires, including the Marshall Fire.
Right now, the state, RTD, and the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District charge sales and use taxes of 4% on building materials. Superior, Louisville and Boulder County waived their sales and use taxes on fire rebuilds and over the last year, Marshall Fire survivors have begged state lawmakers to do the same, saying it's money the state never budgeted for and wouldn't receive if not for a massive wildfire.
Deborah Fahey is among those who testified in favor of the bill: "The house that my husband and I lost we built in 1990."
Fahey is mayor pro tem of Louisville and lost her whole neighborhood in the fire.
"It was an emotional loss to lose the friends," she said. "It was a difficult financial loss to lose the house and all of its contents."
She and other fire survivors asked the Colorado House Finance Committee for a little compassion after a year of living hell.
"My husband and I are still trying to figure out how we find a way to afford this," Judi Kern told the committee.
If losing everything they own wasn't enough, the fire survivors say the state is capitalizing on their tragedy.
"We didn't have a choice in this matter, right? No one chooses to lose their home in a natural disaster," said Kelly Watt.
A bill filed by State Reps. Judy Amabile and Kyle Brown would waive or refund the taxes, not only on homes impacted by the Marshall Fire but any declared wildfire disaster between 2020 and 2025.
"The state is actually looking for a windfall in terms of taxes after one of these declared disasters," Amabile told the committee. "That doesn't seem right to the people that are suffering."
But some committee members wondered where to draw the line.
State Rep. Anthony Hartsook asked, "how do we differentiate between them and -- let's just say -- the Black Forest Fire or anything that we're going to have in the future?"
"It seems like we're picking winners and losers here," he said.
Colorado Counties Inc, which represents 61 of Colorado's 64 counties, agreed. Gini Pingenot with the organization asked that the bill be expanded: "The commissioners do sympathize with Waldo Fire, with the other fires that have occurred throughout the state and they would like to see the bill go as far back retroactively as far as possible and prospectively."
Under the current bill, fire survivors would save a combined $7 million to $14 million in sales and use taxes. That money would otherwise likely be returned to all taxpayers as TABOR refunds.
Kern recognized some may not like that.
"I'm asking you and all of the people you represent - my fellow Coloradans - to let me pay less tax and make it easier for me to rebuild and come home," she said.
The bill passed the Colorado House Finance Committee 9-2 and is now headed to the House Appropriations Committee.