Colorado politicians faced growing calls Monday for a special property tax session — the second in less than a year — to cut taxes even further and prevent two ballot initiatives that opponents warned would have disastrous consequences for the state budget and public services.

Talks about a potential deal with backers of the property tax initiatives have roiled some state lawmakers in recent weeks. Pressure grew Monday as the mayors of Denver, Colorado Springs and Aurora pushed for a compromise, as did a variety of advocacy groups.

During an afternoon session, members of a special commission tasked with making recommendations on state property tax policy pored over the proposals. While they were unable to agree on a final opinion, the commission was broadly willing to cut tax rates even further than lawmakers did at the end of the last legislative session in May.

But lingering bitterness from the spring, when negotiations with sponsors to withdraw the proposed ballot measures failed, has led to stronger assurances among several lawmakers that a new truce in future property tax disputes would be permanent.

“The chance of a special session is pretty high if we can get this process and these confidence-building measures in place,” said Senator Chris Hansen, a Democrat from Denver and chairman of the Property Tax Commission. “It has to be more than a public statement. We have to put something on paper – and preferably something that is legally binding. I think that’s how we build confidence and trust on both sides.”

But Hansen said a special session must be called in the next few days to give the legislature time to meet before Labor Day, and they must also face the state’s Sept. 6 deadline for backers to withdraw their ballot initiatives before the November election.

Democrats, who control both houses of the legislature and the governor’s office, are locked in a standoff over property tax rates with the conservative advocacy group Advance Colorado. Advance Colorado is pushing ballot initiatives 50 and 108, which together seek to limit property tax collection and growth.

Together, they would result in potentially billions of dollars in lower property tax revenues, at the expense of state and local services. But the group says it will backtrack if lawmakers reconvene and cut tax rates beyond the cuts implemented in May.

The most likely way to accomplish this would be for Governor Jared Polis to directly call a special session. He last used this power last November when he reconvened the Legislature to discuss the property tax after Proposition HH’s defeat in last year’s election.

“We encourage these discussions”

He has not yet decided on a course of action, a spokesman said on Monday.

“Governor Polis is listening seriously to all parties, including all those who advocate for the state legislature to reconvene in special session to further reduce property taxes, build on the major tax cuts of the last two years, and continue to save people money without jeopardizing our economic competitiveness and the future of elementary and secondary school funding,” Polis spokeswoman Shelby Wieman wrote in a statement.

“We support these discussions,” she added, “and are confident that an agreement can be reached and implemented to end the property tax debate for the foreseeable future while securing funding for our schools and essential local services.”

Initiative 50 has already been approved for the November ballot as an amendment to the state constitution. If passed – it requires at least 55% approval – it would limit the growth of local governments’ property tax revenues to 4% annually.

Initiative 108, whose signatures are currently being verified, would have a more immediate impact by lowering the assessment rate, the percentage of a home’s value used to calculate the taxes owed by the owner. State economists warn that 108 would result in nearly $2.4 billion less revenue in 2026.

The special session proposal includes proposed statutory tax cuts that would, by comparison, result in about $270 million less in property tax revenue statewide, according to an analysis by the governor’s budget director, Mark Ferrandino.

Michael Fields, president of the Advance Colorado Institute and a key proponent of the measures, said he would withdraw them if lawmakers approved the additional property tax cuts in the coming weeks.

Previous negotiations failed to reach a deal

But many lawmakers felt betrayed in the spring. Colorado Concern, a nonprofit that represents business interests and is also a supporter of the initiatives, announced that it opposed what several negotiators had said was a deal to stop the ballot initiatives. Some, including Senator Barbara Kirkmeyer, a Republican from Brighton, said there was never a deal, just progress toward one.

In the final days of the session, the result of the discussions, Senate Bill 233, became law.

Kirkmeyer said the framework lawmakers are now discussing is effectively a continuation of those negotiations. She supports passing the new property tax cuts so people can no longer afford their homes.