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This memorandum presents the 2026 Legislative Council Staff forecast for the state public institutions of higher education. The forecast provides projections of resident and nonresident full-time equivalent (FTE) student enrollment for the current year (FY 2025-26) and budget year (FY 2026-27). The forecast also includes projected tuition revenue for FY 2025-26. 

This narrative describes the Legislative Department’s budget proposal for FY 2026-27.

This memorandum answers common questions about how revenue from the marijuana industry fits into Colorado’s state budget. Colorado collected $231.1 million from the marijuana industry in FY 2024-25 primarily from three distinct taxes: 

House Bill 24B-1001 created a property tax limit for school districts beginning with the 2025 property tax year. The bill’s provisions limit statewide qualified local share property tax revenue, or local share total program revenue excluding certain sources or uses, by adjusting the residential assessment rate applied to school district mill levies temporarily downward if needed. 

Fiscal Note Data Reports show the fiscal impact of all legislation currently pending before the General Assembly at the 2025 session, based on the most recent Legislative Council Staff fiscal note. Updated reports will be posted on this page approximately weekly during the legislative session. After session, final data will be posted. Fiscal data is provided in both a sortable Excel and a printable PDF format. Each report provides a summary of the impact of all pending bills together, and detailed information for individual bills by fiscal year.

This memorandum provides information concerning Colorado’s severance tax structure and estimated effective severance tax rates, along with a comparison of effective rates for eight other western oil and gas producing states from 2018 to 2022.

This memorandum presents the 2025 Legislative Council Staff forecast for the state public institutions of higher education. The forecast provides projections of resident and nonresident full-time equivalent (FTE) student enrollment and College Opportunity Fund (COF) FTE enrollment for the current fiscal year (FY 2024-25) and budget year (FY 2025-26). The forecast also includes projected tuition revenue for FY 2024-25.

This packet includes fiscal notes for bills introduced with the FY 2025-26 Long Bill, including SB 25-207 through SB 25-270. Fiscal notes for these bills are also be available individually on each bill page on the General Assembly website.

This memorandum provides information on state government enterprises under Article X, Section 20 of the Colorado Constitution, also known as the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR). From FY 1993-94 through FY 2023-24, over 30 state government entities had received enterprise status for at least one fiscal year. In FY 2022-23, the most recent year for which financial data are available, enterprise revenue totaled $23.3 billion.

Passed in August 2024, House Bill 24B-1001 created a property tax limit for school districts beginning with the 2025 property tax year (PTY), for which taxes are payable in 2026. The bill’s provisions limit statewide qualified local share property tax revenue, or local share total program revenue excluding certain sources or uses, by adjusting the residential assessment rate applied to school district mill levies temporarily downward if qualified revenue is expected to exceed the limit. Section 29-1-1702.5 (4)(c) C.R.S.

This memorandum provides background information on Colorado’s business personal property tax. Personal property includes machinery, equipment, and other goods used to operate a business that are not part of a building or structure and its fixtures. For the purposes of this memo, business personal property encompasses generally nonresidential (income producing), private personal property that is not used in a religious or nonprofit, charitable organization.

Fiscal Note Data Reports show the fiscal impact of all legislation currently pending before the General Assembly, based on the most recent published fiscal note.  Updated reports will be posted on this page approximately weekly during the legislative session.  After session, final data will be posted. 

The data reports are contained in an Excel spreadsheet with each report located on a separate tab.  Data in each report is in a sortable/filterable table.  Included reports include:

This packet includes fiscal notes for bills introduced with the FY 2024-25 Long Bill, including HB 24-1385 through HB 24-1428. Fiscal notes for these bills are also be available individually on each bill page on the General Assembly website.

A dynamic model attempts to quantify the downstream effects of a policy change throughout the economy. Legislative Council Staff (LCS) does not conduct dynamic modeling, which means that fiscal notes and other analyses are limited to the scope of legislation's direct impacts and, in some cases, direct behavioral effects. This memorandum explains the difference between direct, behavioral, and dynamic effects of policy changes and current LCS practices in analyzing these impacts

Fiscal Note Data Reports show the fiscal impact of all legislation currently pending before the General Assembly, based on the most recent published fiscal note.  Updated reports will be posted on this page approximately weekly during the legislative session.  After session, final data will be posted. 

The data reports are contained in an Excel spreadsheet with each report located on a separate tab.  Data in each report is in a sortable/filterable table.  Included reports include:

This memorandum highlights regional and sectoral differences in Colorado’s labor market and employment recovery from the pandemic‑induced recession, including in labor force, job openings, and employment. 

This memorandum provides information on state government enterprises under Article X, Section 20 of the Colorado Constitution, also known as the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR).  From FY 1993-94 through FY 2022-23, 33 state government entities had received enterprise status for at least one fiscal year.  In FY 2020-21, the most recent year for which financial data are available, enterprise revenue totaled $27.1 billion.

The senior homestead property tax exemption became available beginning in property tax year 2002, following voter approval of Referendum A in the 2000 General Election. The number of seniors claiming the exemption has grown over time, from 123,326 qualifying seniors in tax year 2002, to 266,538 seniors in tax year 2021.  Local governments are required to be reimbursed by the state for the property tax revenue impact of the exemption. In FY 2021-22, reimbursements for the senior homestead exemption totaled $156.5 million.

This memorandum provides background information on current and past statutory mechanisms used to refund state revenue in excess of the spending limit contained in the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR).  TABOR allows the state to use "any reasonable method" for refunds.

Among the allowable uses of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, states have the most flexibility in spending the portion of funding used to offset the state revenue loss attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. This memorandum provides information on the revenue loss reported for calendar year (CY) 2020 and the preliminary loss calculated for CY 2021, estimated at $1.14 billion and $2.55 billion, respectively. The preliminary cumulative two-year revenue loss is $3.69 billion, compared with the $3.83 billion total ARPA allocation for the state of Colorado.

Final Report to the Colorado General Assembly by the Legislative Oversight Committee Concerning Tax Policy.  

This memorandum provides information on state tax expenditures for renewable energy resources.  State tax expenditures include individual and corporate income tax credits, deductions, and exemptions, and sales and use tax exemptions.  Renewable energy resources include solar, wind, geothermal, greenhouse gas neutral biomass, and certain hydroelectricity, as defined in Colorado Statute under the Renewable Energy Standard.  

Summary report for the Legislative Oversight Committee Concerning Tax Policy & Task Force.

This memorandum provides information on how revenue changes in legislative measures may impact the state’s flexibility in using its $3.8 billion allocation of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.  This memorandum will be updated as additional federal guidance becomes available and relevant state revenue estimates are updated.

On March 11, 2020, Governor Polis issued Executive Order D 2020 003, declaring a disaster emergency pursuant to state law due to the presence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19).  The disaster emergency declaration triggers certain provisions in the Colorado Constitution and state law.