Colorado Governor Jared Polis is calling state lawmakers back to the Capitol later this month for a special session on property taxes.

The hope is that lawmakers can pass enough tax cuts to avert two ballot bills that, if passed, would significantly reduce tax revenues across the state. Local governments, schools and fire districts have said the proposals would destroy funding for critical public services.

“We want to build a coalition that is broad enough to create long-term stability so that homeowners know that their property taxes are not going to be massively increased and that we are not going to cut funding to our schools and fire districts,” Polis said in an interview with CPR News Thursday morning.

The special session begins on August 26 and is expected to last three days. Lawmakers have only a small window to act, as September 6 is the last day they can withdraw an initiative before the ballots go to the printers. Polis said he will not sign a deal unless the measures are withdrawn.

“I would like confirmation that the voting items will be withdrawn from the Secretary of State’s office before signing, and there will be ample opportunity after passage to ensure that this happens.”

Polis said discussions about a special session have really picked up steam in recent weeks.

“A lot of more reasonable people on both sides said, ‘Hey, isn’t there a way to get this worked out instead of having to vote on all or nothing?'”

The two ballot proposals, Initiatives 50 and 108, are backed by the business group Colorado Concern and the conservative interest group Advance Colorado. Initiative 50 would allow statewide property tax revenues to be increased by a maximum of four percent per year. Initiative 108 would permanently reduce tax rates on homes, businesses and other real estate and provide more state money for schools to make up for the tax shortfalls.

The groups argue that a sharp rise in property values ​​during and after the pandemic shows why Colorado needs to make drastic changes to its tax policy to protect property owners from future shocks. A document obtained by CPR News suggests the groups are willing to spend around $8 million to make their case to voters.

“We can’t force legislators to do anything, it’s their decision whether they get involved,” said Michael Fields of Advance Colorado in an interview with CPR. “We’ve always been willing to take our measure. We’ve always taken the same position that we want to limit property taxes.”

The goal of MPs at the upcoming special session will be to make enough further changes to the tax system to keep items 50 and 108 off the ballot, without restricting revenue beyond what schools, local governments and other local authorities say they need to function properly.

Fields said that if lawmakers find an acceptable compromise, supporters of the initiative will no longer be moving forward at full speed in the fall.

“Our ultimate goal has always been to lower and cap property taxes – and to make sure we never see another increase like the one we just saw,” Fields said.

The legislature had already agreed to significant property tax cuts during their regular session earlier this year. Republican and Democratic politicians strongly supported this deal, but Advance Colorado and Colorado Concern rejected it at the time as not going far enough.

During another special session last November, lawmakers also temporarily reduced property taxes. And politicians seem frustrated that the issue keeps coming up.

“We don’t want to be in a scenario where we have to fight these things out every session, every year,” Polis said. “This is the final part of replacing the Gallagher Amendment, which had its flaws but lasted for two decades. And I’m confident that we can complete these changes with the broad coalition.”

Democratic Sen. Chris Hansen of Denver is seeking to be the lead sponsor of the proposal lawmakers will put forward. In an interview with CPR News earlier this week, Hansen said a key focus of the negotiations is to ensure that any deal with the business interests is permanent.

“So if we reach a compromise in the near future, it will mean that the groups involved in Initiatives 50 and 108 and their allies will not bring us back to this point year after year as they have done in the past,” Hansen explained.

Not everyone agrees with the special session. In a video posted to TikTok earlier this week, Democratic Rep. Stephanie Vigil of Colorado Springs said it was “weird” that the state was taking the reins when it was local governments that collected the tax. She added that she did not believe the tax rates were the real issue.

“What has actually caused some people’s property tax burden to be unusually high is that property values ​​have skyrocketed in a short period of time. That is a consequence of our housing shortage. That is not a consequence of government tax policy,” Vigil said.

She also accused supporters of the two initiatives of putting pressure on the governor to call a special session.

“What’s going on? You don’t think your initiative will pass? And now you want to force the governor to call a special session so the legislators can talk about it,” Vigil said. “Why?”

Polis denied this characterization.

“Nobody is forcing anyone. If there is an opportunity to bring people together, we should take it.”

Responding to Vigil’s comments, Fields said if policymakers weren’t afraid of adopting these initiatives, they wouldn’t be working on a compromise now.

While Democrats hold large majorities in both chambers, recent changes to property tax laws have garnered strong bipartisan support. But special sessions can be unpredictable. State law requires lawmakers to focus on the stated goal of the session, but lawmakers have the authority to introduce other bills as long as they are related to that issue. That means there could potentially be multiple property tax proposals up for discussion.

This unexpected special session will bring the current group of lawmakers together in the Statehouse one last time. Due to term limits, lost primaries, or of their own accord, about a third of lawmakers will leave the House after November.