Reisberg prime sponsor of questionable “fee”?
State Representative Jim Reisberg (D-Greeley) is the prime House sponsor of SB09-31. According to the fiscal note,
This bill creates the Clean Technology Discovery Grant Program in the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and Trade (OED). The program will provide grant assistance to aid in the commercialization of renewable technologies (e.g., solar, wind, biofuel, geothermal) or technologies and products that aid in energy efficiency, conservation, or environmental mitigation.
Also according to the fiscal note, these grants will cost the state $5.0 million, but the steep cost doesn’t stop Reisberg. How does he propose to raise the money? More than double the “fee” on something unrelated to these grants — old tires. Every time you replace a tire on your car and have the retailer dispose of the tire for you, the retailer charges you $1.50. Under Reisberg proposal, that fee will more than double to $3.25 per tire.
Problem is that the Supreme Court defined the term “fee” in Bloom v. City of Fort Collins:
Unlike a tax, a special fee is not designed to raise revenues to defray the general expenses of government, but rather is a charge imposed upon persons or property for the purpose of defraying the cost of a particular governmental service…The amount of the special fee must be reasonably related to the overall cost of the service.
Even the Joint Budget Committee staff has a problem with Reisberg’s funding scheme and suggests finding another method. The JBC Staff Analysis stated:
The funding mechanism provided by the bill is a fee charged on waste motor vehicle tires. While funding projects involving waste tires are allowed, there is no guarantee that any such project will be funded. The Committee may wish to consider whether a fee on waste tires is an appropriate funding mechanism for a program which appears to be primarily focused on clean energy technology efforts, but does not guarantee that any portion of the money will support such projects directly involving waste tires.
In other words, this new “fee” on waste tires doesn’t fit the definition of what constitutes a “fee” according to the Colorado Supreme Court. Sadly the bill passed the Senate on an 18-15 vote.
As this legislative session has proved, the majority of Colorado legislators don’t care about the constitution anyway. So prepare to pay an extra $3.25 tax for every new tire. This bill is just another on a long list of awful and probably unconstitutional legislation that will be forced upon Coloradans.