Colorado

The governor's Office of State Planning and Budgeting has lead responsibility for preparing the annual budget, which is presented to the General Assembly on 1 November. The legislature is expected to adopt the budget in May for the fiscal year, which runs from 1 July to 30 June. The constitution requires that the budget be balanced as submitted, as passed, and as signed into law. These requirements are part of the Colorado Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR), the name for a set of amendments adopted in 1992. The TABOR limits increases in per capita spending to the inflation rate and mandates the immediate refund to the taxpayers of any surplus unless they vote to allocate those funds to the state. The voters may also vote for tax increases beyond the inflation rate, which they did for school spending in 2001. Colorado taxpayers received rebates totaling $3.2 billion under the TABOR provisions over six consecutive years (1997–2002). From 1991 to 2002, combined state and local taxes in Colorado declined from 9.8% of income to 9.2% of income (from 25th-highest to 32nd-highest in the country). Ironically, in the sharp decline in state revenues in 2002 and 2003 stemming from the country's economic slowdown, the rebates owed (over $900 million for 2001) became part a major contributor to the state's budget crisis.

The budget deficit in 2002/03 was $558 million and was estimated at $900 million for 2003/04. The relative size of these deficits—9.2% of the state budget and 13.4% of the state budget—reflects the rigidities of the Colorado state tax system under the TABOR.

General Fund revenues totaled $6.72 billion in 2001, but then dropped by 12.6%, to $5.87 billion in 2002, and by a further 3.4%, to $5.67 billion, in 2003. In 2002 cuts made in the budget after it had been passed totaled $554 million, and in 2003, in spite of reduced appropriations, $621.5 million. Methods used to reduce General Fund spending included across-the-board cuts (although K-12 programs and special education programs were exempted), hiring freezes, construction freezes, transfers from other funds ($816.7 million in 2002 and $559.6 million in 2003), and some furloughs in the judiciary department. In the General Fund budget for 2004, available resources were projected at $5.95 billion, after diversion of revenues of $272 million to help replenish the State Education Fund and the Old Coloradoans Program.

For 2003/04 appropriations for the General Fund totaled $5.58 billion (down from General Fund expenditures of $6.69 billion the previous year)is for education, including higher education; 29.5% for health care, human services and public health, and 9.4% for corrections and public safety. There is also a Cash Fund derived mainly from fees, like tuition charges. Under the TABOR, fees are not limited to cost-of-living increases, but the total Cash Fund is limited to 27.5% of the General Fund, so for 2003-4 Cash Funds appropriations totaled about $1.52 billion. There is a third, larger fund not subject to the TABOR revenue cap called the Cash Fund Exempt in which was appropriated $3.17 billion. The fourth fund in Colorado's total appropriations is for federal funds, at $3.12 billion for 2003/04, bring total appropriations to $13.92 billion.

The following table from the US Census Bureau contains information on revenues, expenditures, indebtedness, and cash/securities for 2001.