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2014 Op. Colo. Att'y Gen. 1 (2014)

handle is hein.sag/sagco2014 and id is 1 raw text is: JOHN GeUerS STATE OF COLORADO RALPH L. CARR Attorey GeeralCOLORADO JUDICIAL CENTER CYNTHIA H. COFFMAN DEPARTMENT OF LAW 1300 Broadway, 10th Floor Chief Deputy Attorney General OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Denver, Colorado 80203 DANIEL D. DOMENICO Phone (720) 508-6000 Solicitor General FORMAL ) OPINION ) No. 14-01 ) OF ) AG Alpha No. HI HP AGBDY ) JOHN W. SUTHERS ) August 1, 2014 Attorney General ) This opinion, requested by Don Hunt, Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), addresses how the spending limits set forth in Colo. Const. art. X, § 20 (commonly known as the TABOR Amendment) apply to the transfers of non-cash assets from a TABOR-exempt enterprise operating within CDOT to CDOT, a department of the state (State). QUESTION PRESENTED AND CONCLUSION Question: Is the transfer of a non-cash asset from an enterprise to the State, or a department of the State, accounted for as State fiscal year spending for purposes of the TABOR Amendment? Answer: The proper treatment of the transfer of a non-cash asset from an enterprise to the State under the TABOR Amendment depends on whether the non-cash asset can easily be converted to cash. If so, the asset must be accounted for under State fiscal year spending. If not, the transfer is not relevant to the spending calculation. BACKGROUND A. Factual In 2009, the General Assembly created the Colorado High Performance Transportation Enterprise (HPTE), which, as an enterprise,' is exempt from the fiscal limitations set forth in the TABOR Amendment. Colo. Const. art. X, §20(2)(b); § 43-4- 1 The TABOR Amendment defines an enterprise as a government-owned business authorized to issue its own revenue bonds and receiving under 10% of annual revenue in grants from all Colorado state and local governments combined. Colo. Const. art. X, § 20(2)(d).