Colorado Bills

The 2024 general appropriations act is amended to balance and make adjustments to the total amount appropriated to the department of public safety. The general fund and cash funds portions of the appropriation are increased and the reappropriated funds and federal funds portions are decreased. The 2023 general appropriations act is amended to balance and make adjustments to the total amount appropriated to the department of public safety. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

SB 25-111 is a funding bill that allocates additional state money for specific capital construction projects across Colorado state agencies and institutions. It directly affects departments like Corrections (upgrading facilities), Education (modernizing school buildings), Human Services (replacing fire systems), and higher education institutions (repairing campus infrastructure). The bill provides supplemental funds for concrete improvements such as elevator upgrades, security system replacements, roof repairs, and HVAC modernization at state facilities. This is a procedural budget measure focused solely on funding existing project plans, not creating new policies.

The 2024 general appropriations act is amended to balance and make adjustments to the total amount appropriated to the department of personnel. The general fund and cash funds portions of the appropriation are increased and the reappropriated funds portion is decreased. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The 2024 general appropriations act is amended to balance and make adjustments to the total amount appropriated to the department of regulatory agencies. The general fund and cash funds portions of the appropriation are increased. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

SB 25-110 provides supplemental funding to Colorado's Department of Treasury for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. It allocates $9,087,529 to cover the department's operational costs, including administration, staff salaries, and the Unclaimed Property Program. The funding comes from existing state trust funds, such as the Unclaimed Property Trust Fund and cash management fees, without requiring new taxes. This measure directly supports the Treasury Department's ongoing operations and its management of unclaimed funds.

For the purpose of determining workers who are qualified to work in an assisted living residence, current law includes in its definition of "qualified medication administration personnel" an individual who has passed a competency evaluation administered by an approved training entity on or after July 1, 2017. The act adds to this definition an individual who has passed a competency evaluation administered by the department of public health and environment before July 1, 2017. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act transfers all the unexpended and unencumbered money in the financial literacy and exchange (FLEX) fund to the general fund on June 30, 2025, and repeals the FLEX program on July 1, 2025. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

For money appropriated to the Colorado state university system for use by the Colorado state forest service to renovate and expand the seedling tree nursery, the act extends the spending authority through the 2026-27 state fiscal year. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The general assembly recognizes that for the 2024-25 budget year, the actual funded pupil count is higher than anticipated when the appropriation was established in the 2024 legislative session for total program funding for the 2024-25 budget year. In addition, local property tax revenue and specific ownership tax revenue are lower than anticipated, resulting in a decrease in the local share of total program funding for the 2024-25 budget year. The act declares the general assembly's intent to increase the state share of districts' total program funding by $64,076,611 for the 2024-25 budget year. The act adjusts a repeal date for the total program reserve fund. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Section 1 of the act clarifies that personal property used in direct connection with the operation of a greenhouse for the sole purpose of growing crops in the greenhouse to obtain a monetary profit from the wholesale of plant-based food for human or livestock consumption is included in the definition of equipment used in a controlled environment agricultural (CEA) facility and is thus exempt pursuant to the exemption for such agricultural equipment, which exemption is permanently extended to all future property tax years in section 2 of the act. APPROVED by Governor September 6, 2024 EFFECTIVE November 28, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Property tax revenue limit. Senate Bill 24-233, concerning property tax, created a limit on the annual growth of specified property tax revenue (property tax limit) for certain local governments excluding school districts. Sections 3 through 7 of the act modify that property tax limit and create a new property tax limit for school districts. Specifically, the act: Modifies the property tax limit for local governments excluding school districts so that this limit is no longer 5.5% but is instead equal to the greatest amount of qualified property tax revenue collected by a local government in a previous property tax year increased by 5.25% multiplied by the number of property tax years in a reassessment cycle; Establishes a new property tax limit for school districts that is equal to the greatest amount of local share of statewide total program property tax revenue collected by a school district in a previous property tax year increased by the greater of 6% multiplied by the number of property tax years in a reassessment cycle or the sum of the percentage by which the general assembly annually increases the statewide base per pupil funding for public education from kindergarten through twelfth grade and the percentage increase in pupil enrollment for both the relevant property tax year and the other property tax year in the same reassessment cycle; Annually establishes the valuation for assessment (valuation) for residential property as necessary to ensure that school districts do not exceed the property tax limit for school districts and to compensate for inaccurate adjustments to valuation in the immediately preceding property tax year; Allows waiver of the property tax limit for all school districts, but requires statewide voter approval for such waiver and does not allow individual school districts to locally waive their individual property tax limits; Increases both the property tax limit for local governments excluding school districts and the property tax limit for school districts by the difference between the amount of relevant property tax revenue retained by the local government or school district and the amount of relevant property tax revenue that the local government or school district could have retained as a result of the property tax limit; and Requires certain language to be included in any ballot question that seeks to waive either property tax limit created in these sections. Nonresidential and personal property valuation reductions. Sections 8 and 9 lower the valuation for most nonresidential and personal property as follows: For the property tax year commencing on January 1, 2024, the valuation for lodging property is 27.9% of the actual value of the property minus the lesser of thirty thousand dollars or the amount that reduces the valuation for assessment to $1,000; For the property tax year commencing on January 1, 2025, the valuation for most nonresidential and personal property is 27% of the actual value of the property; For the property tax year commencing on January 1, 2026, the valuation for commercial property and agricultural property is 25% of the actual value of the property and the valuation for most other nonresidential and personal property is 26%; and For property tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2027, the valuation for most nonresidential and personal property is 25% of the actual value of the property. Residential real property valuation reductions. The act also lowers the valuation for residential real property. The amount of the reduction is based on the increase in statewide actual value between the property tax year that commences on January 1, 2024, and the property tax year that commences on January 1, 2025. If the increase in actual value is greater than 5%, sections 10 and 11 reduce the valuation for residential real property as follows: For property tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2025, for the purpose of a levy imposed by a school district, the valuation for residential real property is 6.95% of the actual value of the property; For the property tax year commencing on January 1, 2025, for the purpose of a levy imposed by a local government that is not a school district, the valuation for residential real property is 6.15%; and For property tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2026, for the purpose of a levy imposed by a local government that is not a school district, the valuation for residential real property is 6.7% of the amount equal to the actual value of the property minus the lesser of 10% of the actual value of the property, $70,000 as adjusted for inflation in the first year of each subsequent reassessment cycle, or the amount that causes the valuation for assessment of the property to be $1,000. If the increase in statewide actual value is less than or equal to 5%, sections 10 and 11 reduce the valuation for residential real property as follows: For property tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2025, for the purpose of a levy imposed by a school district, the valuation for residential real property is 7.05% of the actual value of the property; For the property tax year commencing on January 1, 2025, for the purpose of a levy imposed by a local government that is not a school district, the valuation for residential real property is 6.25%; and For property tax years commencing on or after January 1, 2026, for the purpose of a levy imposed by a local government that is not a school district, the valuation for residential real property is 6.8% of the amount equal to the actual value of the property minus the lesser of 10% of the actual value of the property, $70,000 as adjusted for inflation in the first year of each subsequent reassessment cycle, or the amount that causes the valuation for assessment of the property to be $1,000. Section 11 also adjusts the valuations for qualified-senior primary residence real property to mirror the adjustments to the valuations for residential real property made in sections 10 and 11. Property tax commission. Section 1 requires the commission on property tax to evaluate the equity of valuation for assessment established in both the act and Senate Bill 24-233 and to prepare a report on this evaluation no later than May 1, 2025. Definitions of assessed value and valuation for assessment. Section 2 creates definitions of "assessed value" and "valuation for assessment" that apply throughout statute to prevent any confusion arising from having 2 different assessment rates. Conforming amendments. Sections 12 and 13 make conforming amendments. Abstract of assessment. Section 14 requires a county assessor to file additional information along with the abstract of assessment that they filed on August 25, 2025, so that the property tax administrator may determine the amount of statewide actual value growth between the property tax year that commences on January 1, 2024, and the property tax year that commences on January 1, 2025. Local government backfill. Senate Bill 24-233 establishes a process for the state to reimburse local governments for lost property tax revenue for the property tax year commencing on January 1, 2024. Section 15 extends this process from Senate Bill 24-233 to cover the property tax year commencing on January 1, 2025, but only to cover decreases in assessed value attributable to the act. Notice of valuation and tax bill. Sections 16 and 17 remove references to assessed value and ratio of valuation for assessment from taxpayers' notice of valuation and tax bills to prevent confusion from having 2 different assessed values on a tax bill. Effective date. Senate Bill 24-233 becomes law only if neither of the following initiatives (property tax initiatives) are approved by the people at the general election held on November 5, 2024: An initiative that reduces valuations for assessment; or An initiative that requires voter approval for retaining property tax revenue that exceeds a limit. Section 18 modifies the effective date of Senate Bill 24-233 so that Senate Bill 24-233 takes effect either: On October 1, 2024, if both property tax initiatives are withdrawn from the ballot; or On the date of the official declaration of the vote, if one or both of the property tax initiatives appears on the ballot and no property tax initiative is approved by the people. Sections 19 and 20 establish the effective date of the act so that the majority of the act only takes effect if Senate Bill 24-233 becomes law. APPROVED by Governor September 4, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE September 4, 2024 PORTIONS EFFECTIVE October 1, 2024, or upon the date of the official declaration by the governor(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

The act requires a testing entity to grant an individual's request for a testing accommodation on a licensing exam without requiring the individual to undergo a diagnostic exam or psychological assessment if the individual has a recognized disability, provides proof of having received the testing accommodation on a past standardized exam or high-stakes test, provides a recommendation letter from the individual's treating medical professional supporting the requested accommodations, and requests the same testing accommodation that the individual previously received on a similar standardized exam or high-stakes test. The act allows an individual who is adversely affected or aggrieved by a testing entity's decision regarding the individual's request for a testing accommodation to bring a civil action against the testing entity. The act allows the attorney general to investigate violations of, and allows the attorney general to bring a civil action against, a testing entity for an alleged violation. APPROVED by Governor June 7, 2024 EFFECTIVE January 1, 2025(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)