John TytusColorado 2026 ballot

Amendment 87: Graduated income tax

Amends both the constitution and the statutes, citizen initiative. Needs a majority, not 55%: its only constitutional change is to strike TABOR's one-rate requirement, and the Blue Book (p. 4) says an amendment limited to a repeal needs a simple majority. Read with Proposition 136, which conflicts with it.

What it does

Replaces the flat 4.4% state income tax with six brackets starting in 2027:

Taxable income Rate
up to $25,000 3.7%
$25,001 to $100,000 4.2%
$100,001 to $500,000 4.4%
$500,001 to $750,000 7.4%
$750,001 to $1,000,000 7.9%
over $1,000,000 8.4%

Each rate applies only to the slice of income in that bracket. Anyone with taxable income under about $510,000 pays less (at most $325 less); above that, more. The brackets are not adjusted for inflation. The new money goes to a Colorado Future's Account for K-12, health care, and early childhood care, on top of current spending, exempt from the TABOR limit, with an audited annual report. If Proposition 136 also passes, the two conflict on rates above $500,000 and the legislature or a court would have to sort it out.

Blue Book arguments

For: 97% of taxpayers get a cut and only top earners pay more, which is fairer because a dollar of tax hurts a $30,000 earner more than a millionaire; it funds schools, health care, and child care when federal cuts put them at risk; 27 states and the federal government already do this.

Against: It's a multibillion-dollar tax increase that may drive high earners and employers out of the state, and because brackets don't rise with inflation it reaches more taxpayers every year; it replaces the predictable flat tax TABOR guarantees, under which high earners already pay more, and the state should prioritize the money it already collects; it permanently expands government.

What it costs

State revenue rises about $958 million in the first half-year and $1.97 billion in 2027-28 (the ballot's maximum estimate is $2.7 billion). About 46,000 filers with income over $1 million pay an average of $26,085 more; every lower income group pays less on average, from $1 to $325.

Who is paying

Money as of the Sept 21, 2026 filing.

For: about $1.08 million in dedicated committees, plus Yes for Colorado Kids ($2.06 million, shared with Proposition NN)

Committee Raised Spent
Protect Colorado’s Future Coalition (raised includes $338,967 in-kind) $1,030,462 $696,797
Yes for Colorado Kids (also backs Proposition NN) $2,064,337 $1,210,044
Great Education Colorado Action $46,790 $45,407

Protect Colorado’s Future Coalition: about 94% in-state. Yes for Colorado Kids: all in-state.

Against: about $69,000 in dedicated committees, plus a share of Brighter Colorado

Committee Raised Spent
Americans For Prosperity Colorado Issue Committee $49,630 $49,630
Your Family's Future Alliance $15,787 $10,290
Keep Colorado Affordable (also backs Proposition 136) $0 $0
Affordable Colorado (in-kind from the Independence Institute) $3,426 $0
Don’t Price Us Out $0 $0
Let’s Go Colorado $0 $0
A Brighter Colorado (shared across several measures) $306,625 $35,489

Americans for Prosperity Colorado's only donor is Americans for Prosperity, Arlington VA. Your Family's Future Alliance's donors include Joe Woodford of Colorado Springs, $10,000; John Blackwell of Metairie LA, $2,000 plus $84 in-kind; and the TABOR Committee, $1,000. The Colorado Chamber of Commerce also opposes it.

Where the parties stand

Democrats: the Colorado Democratic Party supports Amendment 87; its State Central Committee voted on its ballot-measure positions and announced them Sept 8, 2026.

Republicans: no position from the Colorado Republican Party found as of Sept 30, 2026. The Weld County Republican Party, a county party, recommends a no vote (its Resolution WCRCC-2026-09, adopted Sept 15, 2026).

No minor-party position found as of Sept 30, 2026.

What isn't known

Who funds Great Education Colorado Action, and Common Sense America, the $250,000 donor behind A Brighter Colorado. How much of A Brighter Colorado's money, shared across several measures, goes to opposing Amendment 87. How much of Yes for Colorado Kids' money goes to 87 rather than Proposition NN.

Sources