Will Amendment 87 finally fix the math

Aspen —Will Amendment 87 finally fix the math?

Ron Guillot thinks so. He’s a Denver-based healthcare investor who moved here from New Orleans in 1990. He calls Colorado his "promised land." Now, he wants you to vote yes on Amendment 87.

The short version: He is asking voters to raise his taxes.

Guillot writes in the Vail Daily that he is a "Colorado millionaire." He admits it is awkward to say in print. But he argues the current system is broken. Colorado has a flat 4.4% income tax rate. A teacher, a police officer, and a doctor making $200,000 pay that rate. So do people like Guillot who earn well over $1 million.

A flat rate sounds fair. It isn’t.

Guillot points out that someone earning $50,000 feels that 4.4% a lot more than he does. Add sales taxes and property taxes, and the burden lands hardest on working families. Wealthier households have more tools to defer taxes — holding stocks or real estate until they sell. The result is that top earners pay a smaller share of their income in taxes than most other Coloradans.

Amendment 87 changes that. It returns the state to a graduated tax system, similar to the one used before 1987. Under the proposal, anyone earning under $500,000 a year would see a tax cut. That covers about 97% of Colorado taxpayers. The extra revenue comes from higher rates on the top earners.

The state needs the money. Medicaid is projected to run $443 million over budget this year due to federal cuts. Amendment 87 would generate an estimated $2 billion annually, dedicated specifically to healthcare, K-12 education, and childcare.

Skeptics argue the wealthy will flee. Guillot disagrees. He notes that 28 other states already use graduated taxes. If he wanted zero income tax, he would have moved to Wyoming. Instead, he stayed for the lifestyle, the schools, and the culture.

He challenges the cynicism of those who tell lower-income earners to "try not to blow it all on Starbucks." To Guillot, that is judgmental. Amendment 87 is about resetting the balance.

Make no mistake: This is a trade-off. You are trading a small tax increase for the richest residents for a broad tax cut for the middle class and a funding boost for essential services.

Guillot says he isn’t leaving. He’s betting the rest of you agree.

Read that again: He is asking voters to raise his taxes.

If you think that’s fair, vote yes.