Colorado voters had several issues before them in this year’s election that will have an impact on small business interests in the Rocky Mountain State. First, voters made Colorado the 9th state in the nation to adopt a Paid Family and Medical Leave Law when they approved Proposition 118 which creates a state-run insurance program providing paid medical and family leave beginning on January 1, 2024. The program will be funded beginning in January of 2023 with a new payroll tax split evenly between employers and employees. And on another financial issue, voters approved a statewide initiative cutting the flat income tax rate from the current 4.63% down to 4.55%. It’s not much of a reduction, cutting $158 million from state coffers, but it’s at least movement in the right direction. Not quite the case in Denver, where voters in the Mile-High City approved two increases in the city sales tax. The two initiatives authorized increases with each pegged at 0.25% and the proceeds earmarked equally for curbing carbon emissions and providing additional services to the homeless population. And finally on a positive note, the Aurora City Council rejected a proposal to raise the city minimum wage to $17 per hour. The measure was presented as a compromise one as the council had previously rejected a proposal to hike the city minimum to $20 an hour. Maybe it’s the altitude??
