Lawsuit Filed in Denver Challenging Proposed Graduated Income Tax Measure

A lawsuit was filed in Denver District Court challenging the proposed graduated income tax measure from the November ballot. The suit was brought by a major law firm on behalf of Michael Andre Hancock of Arapahoe County. The plaintiffs allege that the coalition behind the measure, Protect Colorado’s Future, failed to file training certificates for some of its paid petitioners. The suit claims that 9,849 signatures gathered by the coalition may be invalid, which could drop the valid signature count below the required threshold for citizen initiatives.

The challenge targets the validity of the petition signatures required to move the tax measure forward. If the invalid signatures are confirmed, the count of valid signatures would fall to 121,089, which is below the required 124,238 valid signatures for citizen initiatives.