Colorado Amendment 58 (2008)

Amendment 58 was a proposed initiative on the Colorado ballot of 2008 regarding Colorado's severance tax. It was turned down by 57.9% of the voters.^[1]

Effect

The initiative stated that Amendment 58 would:

• "increase the amount of state severance taxes paid by oil and natural gas companies, primarily by eliminating an existing state tax credit
• "allocate the increased severance tax revenue to college scholarships for state residents, wildlife habitat, renewable energy projects, transportation projects in energy-impacted areas, and water treatment grants
• "exempt all oil and gas severance tax revenue from state and local spending limits.^[2]

Conflict with Amendment 52

Both Amendment 58 and 52 regard the handling of Colorado's use of the severance tax. While 58 would pour more money into college scholarships and natural resources, 52 would redirect the money into improving I-70.

Results

Amendment 58[3]
Choice	Votes	Percentage
No	1,306,732	58.05%
Yes	944,158	41.95%
Total votes	2,250,890	100.00%

References

1. ^ http://projects.rockymountainnews.com/pages/news/politics/elections/results/colorado-issue.html
2. ^ Colorado Blue Book. Notice of Election to Increase Taxes on a Citizen Petition. 2008 STATE BALLOT INFORMATION BOOKLET and Recommendations on Retention of Judges Legislative Council of the Colorado General Assembly Research Publication No. 576-1
3. ^ "Canvass Results - General Election 2008". Secretary of State of Colorado. http://coreports.ezvotetally.com/CanvassReportCumulative/tabid/59/Default.aspx. Retrieved 2009-06-24.