Colorado state government spending increases outpaced inflation, report says
(The Center Square) – Colorado has vastly grown its government spending over the past 20 years, according to a new report from Common Sense Institute.
CSI’s “Then and Now” report found that government spending in Colorado has vastly outpaced inflation over the last 20 years. Adjusted for inflation, the state government has increased spending by 35% in that stretch from $5,140 per Coloradoan to $6,924.
Healthcare is a big reason for that spending increase over the last 20 years. The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing grew its budget by 429% from Fiscal Year 2005 to Fiscal Year 2025, from $3 billion to $15.9 billion; that department went from 22% of the budget to 37%.
Even as the state increased education spending by 128% over those 20 years, its share of the budget decreased from 25% to 18%. Education is the area that had the biggest decrease in terms of its share of the budget.
The report also found that revenue subject to TABOR that is available to spend accounts for nearly half (46%) of the state’s spending. The report projects 3.3% annual growth from Fiscal Year 2024 to Fiscal Year 2027, from $18 billion to $20.6 billion. Meanwhile, it expects that $3.2 billion in TABOR surplus revenue will be made available for taxpayer refunds.
From Fiscal Year 2025 to Fiscal Year 2026, Colorado will likely increase its spending even more; CSI projects an 8.9% increase, or $617 per Coloradan, based on the requested budget from Governor Jared Polis.
Polis touted this increase as fiscally responsible in a letter to the Joint Budget Committee and the General Assembly.
“This budget does all of those things while driving greater government efficiency and ensuring that fiscal responsibility is front and center,” Polis said in the letter. “We are able to make strategic investments to protect funding for public safety and K-12 education, making good on our promise to Coloradans. This budget also maintains financial reserves that will help Colorado weather economic storms, and after a thorough review process, it puts each dollar to its best possible use.”
“This budget includes the tough choices we are elected to make but does so in a way that protects the progress we’ve made and carves a path to advance Coloradans’ priorities—all while maintaining our mandate to be fiscally responsible now and going forward,” he added.
