Jared Polis wants to lower Colorado income tax rate by 3 to 5 percent
Jared Polis told KRDO NewsChannel 13 while in Colorado Springs Monday he wants to lower state income taxes by 3 to 5 percent.
He’s also talked also talked for months about wanting to provide free full-day kindergarten for all Colorado students while fixing the state’s transportation issues.
“Can you still get all of the things done that you hope by reducing those income taxes?” KRDO NewsChannel 13’s Colleen Sikora asked the Governor-elect.
Polis said yes if Colorado were to cut spending in certain areas, the savings could allow for a reduction in income taxes.
“Going after tax expenditures, reducing special interests, tax giveaways, and loopholes and using the proceeds to reduce the state income tax,” Polis said.
Currently, Coloradans pay a flat rate 4.63 percent of their federal taxable income. Polis said he wants to lower that rate 3 to 5 percent, which would be about 4.49 percent.
His idea, in some ways, appeals to state Republicans.
“Reducing the income tax is a great thing to do, the economic principle behind that is great,” State Rep. Paul Lundeen said.
Lundeen is the current Republican representative for House District 19 but was just recently elected to the State Senate a few weeks ago.
While he agrees with lowering income taxes, he’s not so sure about the cutbacks Polis wants to make.
“The devil is always in the details,” Lundeen said. “What exactly is the governor talking about, what “loopholes” as he defines them, will he be closing? What is he actually after?”
Polis did not go into specifics of what he’d cut.
As for people in Colorado Springs, their reviews are mixed.
“I don’t hear anything bad in that, doesn’t sound like there’s a negative aspect to it,” Thomas Lear said.
“If he’s going to move forward with it, I’d like to know more about it,” Alan Chalepah
“It sounds all great, it’s just how do you balance lowering taxes with the expenditures that you have, we still have problems with roads and everything like that in Colorado,” Peter Pino said.
Polis added with those cutbacks he believes the three to five percent of the current rate is doable, but he’d want to reduce the state income taxes more if possible.
