District court rules mill-levy freeze unconstitutional

A Denver District court ruled Friday that Gov. Bill Ritter's mill-levy freeze was unconstitutional.

"However well-intentioned and commendable the purpose and consequences of SB-199, this Court must be concerned only with enforcement of the Colorado Constitution," District Court Court Judge Christina Habas wrote in her ruling, obtained by the Denver Post. "While this Court candidly expresses its concern as to the resulting consequences of this decision, it must nonetheless perform its duties in a manner consistent with its oath to uphold the Constitution."

Habas agreed with a taxpayer coalition's arguments that the freeze, passed in 2007 in an amendment to the School Finance Act, constituted a tax increase and change in tax policy without first winning voter approval.

Such changes without voter consent are illegal under the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights.

Ritter and the Colorado Department of Education had argued that 174 of Colorado's 178 school districts have voted to allow districts to collect and spend revenue ""from all sources," including revenues that exceeded TABOR limitations, according to the Denver Post.