Colorado Mining Ass'n v. Huber

Opinion by

Judge CONNELLY.

This appeal involves a constitutional challenge under section (4)(a) of the Colorado Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR), Colo. Const. art. X, § 20(4)(a). Plaintiffs challenge the Department of Revenue's right to implement a pre-TABOR statute that formulaically adjusts the coal severance tax rate based on a general economic index. They contend a taxpayer vote was required because the Department's decision (after a fifteen-year hiatus) to use the statutory formula (1) caused a "tax rate increase" and (2) was "a tax policy change directly causing a net tax revenue gain."…