Waiver of the State Property Tax Limit for Rainbow Valley Water District
Keeping extra revenue5.25 percent limit waived, if 6A passes
Waives the statutory 5.25% property tax revenue limit for tax year 2026 and future years, only if voters also approve the district’s Issue 6A revenue authorization.
Rainbow Valley Water District
Kim's Recommendation
NO
Vote No on Rainbow Valley Water District Ballot Question 6B
Question 6B asks district voters to waive the state's 5.25% property tax limit for tax year 2026 and every year after it, with no end year.
That limit comes from state statute, not from TABOR, and it applies to property tax revenue alone, capping how much the district's qualified property tax revenue may rise in a year. A yearly cap on property tax growth should bind the district every year, and I recommend that district voters refuse this waiver even if 6A carries.
A no on 6B refuses the property tax waiver whatever the result on 6A.
I recommend a no vote on Rainbow Valley Water District Ballot Question 6B.
Kim Monson
Host, The Kim Monson Show · President, Colorado Union of Taxpayers · Colorado Voter's Guide 2026
Certified ballot question
Shall Rainbow Valley Water District waive the 5.25% property tax limit established in Section 29-1-1702, C.R.S., for the property tax year commencing January 1,2026 and all future property tax years, if the District's revenue and spending authorization ballot issue is approved by the voters?
A yes vote means
If 6A also passes, the district's 5.25% property tax limit would be waived from 2026 and in all future years.
A no vote means
Rejects the proposed statutory property tax revenue-limit waiver.
How the State Property Tax Limit Works01
Under Section 29-1-1702 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, a local government's qualified property tax revenue for any property tax year beginning on or after January 1, 2025, "must not increase by more than the property tax limit." The ballot question names that limit as 5.25%. Section 29-1-1701 leaves several sources out of qualified revenue, among them revenue from new construction and from property omitted from the previous year's assessment roll.
For a district subject to this statutory limit, the board must keep qualified property tax revenue within the limit through a temporary credit or levy reduction, or refund any excess collected without one. The credit and the mill levy reduction are temporary and leave the underlying levy unchanged. Reducing or ending either does not require prior voter approval under Article X, Section 20; a required refund is a separate obligation.
A temporary tax credit of 1.312 mills appears against Rainbow Valley Water District on the state Division of Property Taxation's 2025 property tax map.
The Scope of the Waiver02
Question 6B waives the 5.25% limit for the district for the property tax year that begins January 1, 2026, and for all future property tax years. The waiver has no end year. The question sets no mill levy rate and states no dollar amount.
How 6A and 6B Fit Together03
The ballot ties 6B to Issue 6A, the district's revenue and spending authorization on the same Teller County ballot. The last words of Question 6B set the condition, "if the District's revenue and spending authorization ballot issue is approved by the voters." From fiscal year 2027, Issue 6A lets the district treat revenue from any source as a voter-approved revenue change, outside the limits in Article X, Section 20, the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR), and outside "any other law which purports to limit the District's revenues or expenditures."
If both pass, the 6B waiver starts with property tax year 2026 and 6A's authority with fiscal year 2027. The 6B waiver takes effect when both questions pass and not otherwise. Issue 6A carries no condition tied to 6B.
Sources04
Official documents
Teller County official sample ballot 011-003, page 2 — November 3, 2026 election
