2008 Colorado Amendment 58 Explained

Amendment 58 was a proposed initiative on the Colorado ballot of 2008 regarding Colorado's severance tax. It was turned down by 57.9% of the voters.^[1]

Effect

The initiative stated that Amendment 58 would:

• "increase the amount of state severance taxes paid by oil and natural gas companies, primarily by eliminating an existing state tax credit
• "allocate the increased severance tax revenue to college scholarships for state residents, wildlife habitat, renewable energy projects, transportation projects in energy-impacted areas, and water treatment grants
• "exempt all oil and gas severance tax revenue from state and local spending limits.^[2]

Conflict with Amendment 52

Both Amendments 58 and 52 in the 2008 election regarded the handling of Colorado's use of the severance tax. While Amendment 58 would have allocated some of this money to college scholarships and natural resource conservation, 52 would have directed the money into improving Interstate 70 in Colorado (I-70).

Notes and References

1. http://projects.rockymountainnews.com/pages/news/politics/elections/results/colorado-issue.html{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
2. http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/lcsstaff/bluebook/2008EnglishVersionforInternet.pdf Colorado Blue Book. Notice of Election to Increase Taxes on a Citizen Petition. 2008 STATE BALLOT INFORMATION BOOKLET and Recommendations on Retention of Judges Legislative Council of the Colorado General Assembly Research Publication No. 576-1