Colorado lawmakers face divergent budget projections

Refunds to Colorado taxpayers and possible obligations to transportation projects mean state lawmakers are in for a wild year of budgeting.

Colorado expects to refund $153 million next spring because the state has more money than it can keep under law. But for the following tax year, economists gave lawmakers two predictions on Monday: One from the governor’s office says the state will owe taxpayers nearly $117 million, while legislative economists put the figure at zero.

Tax collections currently hover at $10 billion. Refunds are required when revenue exceeds inflation and population growth.

The size of the refunds impacts whether lawmakers next year are obligated to transfer as much as $125 million to transportation or possibly nothing.

But they won’t know until March when they’ll be finalizing the budget.