Ballot Title Setting Board
2025-2026

The title as designated and fixed by the Board is as follows:

State taxes shall be increased $2.7 billion annually, in order to increase or improve levels of public services, including K-12 public school education, health care, and early child care and education services, by an amendment to the Colorado Constitution and a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes repealing existing law and creating new law to replace the uniform state income tax rate with a graduated income tax structure, and, in connection therewith, amending the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights to eliminate the constitutional requirement for all taxable net income to be taxed at one rate with no added tax on income; establishing various income tax rates based on the amount of taxable income earned by individuals, estates, trusts, and corporations, while maintaining the current 4.4% tax on income from the sale of a principal residence, which will result in the estimated change in income taxes owed by individuals as identified in the following table; and authorizing the state to retain and spend any increased revenue from the new tax structure for K-12 public school education, health care, and early child care and education programs, as a voter-approved revenue change, intended to supplement current spending levels for those purposes:

Initiative 196
Change in Income Taxes Owed by Income Category

The ballot title and submission clause as designated and fixed by the Board is as follows:

Shall state taxes be increased $2.7 billion annually, in order to increase or improve levels of public services, including K-12 public school education, health care, and early child care and education services, by an amendment to the Colorado Constitution and a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes repealing existing law and creating new law to replace the uniform state income tax rate with a graduated income tax structure, and, in connection therewith, amending the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights to eliminate the constitutional requirement for all taxable net income to be taxed at one rate with no added tax on income; establishing various income tax rates based on the amount of taxable income earned by individuals, estates, trusts, and corporations, while maintaining the current 4.4% tax on income from the sale of a principal residence, which will result in the estimated change in income taxes owed by individuals as identified in the following table; and authorizing the state to retain and spend any increased revenue from the new tax structure for K-12 public school education, health care, and early child care and education programs, as a voter-approved revenue change, intended to supplement current spending levels for those purposes?

Initiative 196
Change in Income Taxes Owed by Income Category

Hearing January 21, 2026

Single subject approved; staff draft amended; titles set (3-0).
The Board finds that the proposed initiative only repeals, in whole or in part, a provision of the state constitution and therefore does not require a 55% majority for passage.
Board members: Theresa Conley, Christy Chase, Kurt Morrison
Hearing adjourned 12:29 PM.

Rehearing February 4, 2026

Motions for rehearing (Fields, Menten, Sopkin, Hancock) denied in their entirety (2-1, Morrison).
Motion for rehearing (proponents) granted to the extent reflected in the change to the title (3-0).
The Board finds that the proposed initiative only repeals, in whole or in part, a provision of the state constitution and therefore does not require a 55% majority for passage.
Board members: Theresa Conley, Christy Chase, Kurt Morrison
Hearing adjourned 12:10 PM. 

* Unofficially captioned "Graduated Income Tax" by legislative staff for tracking purposes. This caption is not part of the titles set by the Board.