Face The State Staff Report
Economics and business professors from Colorado universities have joined economists from across the nation to voice their opposition to Amendment 58.
In an open letter to Colorado residents, 90 economists from the private and public sector warned voters of the implications of approving the proposal that they say would ultimately place an unnecessary burden on taxpayers.
“The burden of any tax falls squarely on the shoulders of consumers, workers, and shareholders such as retirees or mutual fund investors,” the signatories said in the letter. “We can safely predict that this measure will cause reduced state oil and gas production, fewer economic opportunities, increased reliance on imports, and higher energy prices.”
Amendment 58, pushed by Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, has been promoted as a way to increase tuition revenue for lower-income college students. The source of its funds would come eliminating an existing severance tax credit for energy companies. If passed, the initiative is expected to effectively double the tax rate on oil and gas producers in Colorado.
The anti-Amendment 58 letter was sponsored and organized by the National Union of Taxpayers, a non-profit conservative citizens' group headquartered in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Arthur A Fleisher III, chair of the economics department at Metropolitan State College of Denver and one of the local signatories, said that the amendment boils down to simple economics. “This is a tax increase,” said Fleisher. “If we want to increase energy supplies we shouldn’t tax the energy industry. Put a tax on any good and you’re going to hinder its development.”
Fleisher was one of four Colorado professors to sign the letter. The others were Paul Ballantyne from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Barry Poulson from CU-Boulder and Michael Williams of the University of Denver.
The letter was also endorsed by professors from national institutions including Dartmouth, Duke, and the University of Virginia, as well as researchers from Stanford's Hoover Institution, the John Locke Foundation, and the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.
The letter ends with advice seemingly directed at Ritter and ruling Democrats.
“If Colorado policymakers want to pursue a sound energy policy, they ought to keep taxes low and reduce government interference in the markets that are capable of delivering innovative energy solutions to consumers.”