DON’T LOCK UP AND WASTE OUR TAX DOLLARS.
[STOP SUBSIDIZING SCHEMES THAT DEGRADE OUR BEAUTIFUL STATE]
Impacts on Tax Dollars
Where are your tax dollars going?
Proposition 137, “Direct Sporting Goods Sales Tax Revenue for Conservation,” if passed, would permanently change state sales tax refunds under Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR), force the transfer of approximately $175 million per year out of a state budget already underwater by $1.5 billion, and drastically expand government agencies and programs for controversial, experimental public land management with little to no oversight by the citizens or our elected representatives.
Prop. 137 would drastically alter TABOR state sales tax refunds on exercise equipment, golf equipment, bicycles, motorcycles, motor scooters, motor homes, travel trailers, campers, as well as farm and agricultural supplies. Where will this $175 million per year go?
Prop. 137 would create yet another new state fund, the deceptively-named “Conserve and Protect Colorado’s Water, Land, and Forests Fund” taken from the General Fund via a new TABOR-exempt revenue called “Wildfire and Conservation Revenue.” This fund would carry out government land management experiments through sweetheart contracts to billion-dollar NGOs and corporate welfare to (often out-of-state) special interests. This new fund would be nontransferable to the General Fund at the end of a fiscal year if not used.
The State Fiscal Impact Statement from May 2026 estimates that in 2027 $83.1 million will go to Great Outdoors Colorado, nearly a doubling of GOCO’s currently massive budget in a state already overflowing with recreation opportunities.
The so-called “Forest Restoration and Wildfire Risk Mitigation Grant Program Cash Fund” and/or “Vibrant Communities Fund”—both of which would hand over tax dollars and trees to NGOs and corporations from as far away as Oregon—will receive $36.5 million in 2027, an increase of over 500% since the funds’ inception in 2022.
The “Prescribed Fire Claims Cash Fund” (revealing the extreme risks to private homeowners from our state government’s public land management agenda) will get a one-time revenue amount of $10 million, a 4,000% increase from the fund’s $250,000 when it was created in 2025.
The “Outdoor Equity Fund” which is currently funded by state lottery revenue, and “Keep Colorado Wild,” will receive $4.4 million from this General Fund Transfer. The “Outdoor Recreation Economic Development Cash Fund,” created just last year, will also receive $4.4 million in 2027, approximately 600% more than the $723,000 it had at its inception.
The state’s analysis estimates that the Department of Higher Education will spend $36.5 million in 2027 and $42.8 million 2028, (which happen to match the amounts that “The Forest Restoration and Wildfire Risk Mitigation Grant Program Cash Fund” and/or “Vibrant Communities Fund” would receive). On top of that, Great Outdoors Colorado will spend $23.1 million in 2028, the Department of Public Safety will spend $10 million in 2028, and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) would increase expenditures by $18.4 million in 2027, and $84.4 million in 2028. Currently the yearly budget for the DNR is $541 million.
The state’s analysis for Prop. 137 estimates drastically higher spending by the “Colorado Strategic Wildfire Action Program” (COSWAP) by approximately 300% in 2027 for more controversial government land management experiments, NGO contracts, and corporate welfare. Currently COSWAP’s budget is $6.9 million per year.
TABOR exists to protect the Colorado taxpayer from runaway government growth. Proposition 137 seeks to shred Colorado’s constitution to siphon hundreds of millions in our tax dollars to already bloated government agencies, balance the budget of unaccountable billion-dollar NGOs, and hand over our public forests to corporate interests.
If you want to protect Colorado’s land, communities, and tax dollars, we urge you to vote NO on 137 this November.