Severance Tax Voter-approved Revenue Change

The bill requires the secretary of state to refer a ballot issue at the general election held on November 6, 2018, to seek voter approval for the state to retain and spend an amount equal to state severance tax revenue. The change only has effect in years when the state would otherwise be required to make a refund under section 20 of article X of the state constitution (TABOR) and is conditioned on the state not:

• Repealing or reducing any of the existing severance tax exemptions or credits; or
• Reducing the percentage of the severance tax revenue that is allocated to local governments.

If the state does any of these actions, then the state's authority to retain and spend revenues based on the voters' approval of the referred ballot issue is rescinded at that time and going forward.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)