It appears likely that voters will permanently exempt the Regional Transportation District from revenue and spending limitations that otherwise could have led to millions of dollars in taxpayer refunds.
Measure 7A was leading 69 percent to 31 percent as of 10:45 p.m. Tuesday.
“Based on where the votes are at this moment, we think 7A is going to pass,” said Danny Katz, a spokesperson for the Keep Colorado Moving campaign that is supporting the measure. “We're very excited about that.”
RTD’s two separate budgets have been exempted from the Taxpayer Bill of Rights revenue and spending limits for decades. But one of the exemptions was set to expire later this year.
Had it expired, RTD estimated it would’ve had to issue refunds of $2.4 million in 2027 and $3.7 million in 2029, which would be split among taxpayers. And refunds could’ve ended up being much, much higher had the economy gone through a recession and recovery because of TABOR’s “ratchet-down effect.”
With 7A’s apparent success though, RTD’s billion-dollar-plus budget will have no checks on it beyond the ups and downs of the sales tax that provides most of its revenue.
“This goes to show that voters understand the importance of transit in our region, from Nederland in the foothills to the edge of the Great Plains,” Katz said. “RTD provides a really important service and it's important that we keep transit moving.”
Erik Davidson, chair of the RTD board, said he was “thrilled” by the results.
“RTD will be able to maintain its current operations, and RTD’s Board and staff will remain firmly committed to being good stewards of taxpayers’ investment,” he wrote in an email.
The measure’s supporters included transit and environmental advocacy groups, several chambers of commerce, the Metro Mayors Caucus, the Downtown Denver Partnership, the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition, and the AARP. There was no organized opposition to the measure, though several taxpayer’s rights organizations have spoken out against it.
