On the September 17 broadcast of Newsradio 850 KOA's The Gunny Bob Show, guest host Michael Brown, former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, allowed state Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) to repeat misleading criticisms about education funding legislation that Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter proposed and the Colorado legislature enacted as part of Senate Bill 199. Also known as the Colorado Children's Amendment, the measure freezes property tax, or mill levy, rates as a means of redistributing sources of public education funding in the state. During the broadcast, Gardner called the plan “a property tax that Governor Ritter put on the people of Colorado without a vote of the people” and said that it was “pitched as a increase [sic] in funding to local schools, but it's simply not.”

In fact, as Colorado Media Matters previously noted, the provisions of the freeze apply only to school districts whose residents already have voted to allow the retention of mill levy revenues above limits set in the state constitution. Furthermore, SB 199's fiscal note, prepared by the nonpartisan Colorado Legislative Council Staff, estimated that because of initiatives mandated by the legislation, SB 199 would increase spending on preschool education by $6.7 million in FY 2007-08 and by $19.1 million in FY 2008-09. Additionally, the bill phases in an increase in minimum per pupil funding above levels mandated by the Colorado Constitution at an additional combined cost for FY 2007-08 and FY 2008-09 of $19.6 million, as Colorado Media Matters has noted (here and here).

Gardner also asserted that Coloradans will pay more in property taxes “next year” as a result of the freeze while failing to mention that, according to an updated Legislative Staff estimate he requested, some property owners in the state -- including those in his own House district -- will pay lower property taxes next year.

Later, after asserting the mill levy freeze is part of “a trend that we're seeing,” Gardner repeated the conservative falsehood that the 2005 voter-approved Referendum C was sold to voters with a specific price tag. According to Gardner, "[W]hen the voters passed Referendum C by a very narrow margin back in 2005, they were told that it would be $3.7 billion. Now it's nearly $6 billion." In fact, the 2005 Colorado Blue Book specified in its analysis of Referendum C that the $3.7 billion figure it cited was an “estimate” of the revenues the state could retain under the measure. Moreover, the Blue Book explicitly stated that the “exact amount of the spending increase could be higher or lower, depending on the economy and the amount of money collected.”

As The Denver Post reported on September 14, “Gov. Bill Ritter's property-tax freeze for schools is expected to bring in $114 million across Colorado next year -- well over the $48 million calculated when the legislature approved the proposal.” The Post further reported, “Republicans who fought against the school-funding plan last spring were crying outrage at the $66 million difference Thursday, while the governor cautioned that the estimate from the nonpartisan Legislative Council is still preliminary.”

From the September 17 broadcast of Newsradio 850 KOA's The Gunny Bob Show, with guest host Michael Brown:

GARDNER: In this case, we're talking about a property tax that Governor Ritter put on the people of Colorado without a vote of the people. He said it would be $48 million. The bottom line is, five short months later, the ink hasn't even dried yet, and we're talking about a $114 million tax -- not $48 million tax -- put on the backs of hard-working Colorado families without their vote.

BROWN: Now is that increase because of increased property values? Is that what, is that what is happening?

GARDNER: Well, that's exactly right. We have a good economy. Things are going well. People are enjoying living in the state and the economy. But, boy, when you have a property tax that jumps from what he said was going to be 48, now a 114 million, it won't be too long before that has a major chilling effect on the state's economy.

BROWN: You know, and I'm always amazed too about how -- and I'm not saying you do this, but I just think that politicians in general do this -- we throw around these big numbers all the time. You know, it's gone from 65 million to $114 million. And I know in Colorado that's not anything compared to the 65 billion and the 114 billion we talk about in Washington. But, nonetheless, that's a lot of money. Has the --

GARDNER: It is a lot of money. And, and, you know, the problem is it's a trend that we're seeing, Mike. When we passed, when the voters passed Referendum C by a very narrow margin back in 2005 they were told that it would be $3.7 billion. Now it's nearly $6 billion. The voters were told when the legislature was dealing with the property tax increase that it would be $48 million. Now it's $114 million. There's a disturbing trend taking place, and I think Coloradans deserve an answer of why they are told one thing, the rug's pulled out from underneath them, and then they're paying another.

BROWN : So what happens if, I mean, for example, has anyone talked about what they plan to do with the addition $65 million? Is that going straight back to those school districts that are seeing a, a property tax valuation increase? Or is it going somewhere else?

GARDNER: Well, really, Mike, that is the smoke and mirrors of this entire issue. It's pitched as a increase in funding to local schools, but it's simply not. It's actually a decrease in funding from the state, an increase in local funding to local schools, and so there is no increase in funding whatsoever. It just happens to be that the state government is using a local tax revenue to free up money at the state budget to spend on who knows what.

BROWN: See, now, I love the way that you explain that, because I'm reading some of the stuff that was in the Rocky Mountain News, and, and Representative Jack Pommer -- and, Jack, if you're listening, call in at 303-713-8585 -- but Jack says, he apparently sponsored the House version of the school finance bill --

GARDNER: That's right.

BROWN: -- says, quote, Gardner doesn't understand how the law works. I always love it when guys say stuff like that. Do you understand how the law works?

GARDNER: You know, what I understand is that Coloradans are going to be paying more in taxes this year than they were -- next year than they were this year. And that's a tax increase.

Although Gardner claimed that the mill levy freeze means that “Coloradans are going to be paying more in taxes ... next year than they were this year,” he failed to mention that some property owners in the state will pay less in property taxes next year, including some whose property values decrease. According to the updated Legislative Staff estimate that Gardner requested, while property taxes are “expected to increase in 129 districts,” they are expected to "decrease in 49 districts," including those in Gardner's House District 63, which includes Yuma, Morgan, Washington, Cheyenne, Lincoln, Kiowa, Crowley, and Kit Carson counties.

As Colorado Media Matters has documented (here and here), other media outlets also have uncritically reported Gardner's criticisms of the property tax freeze.