Polis Budget Seeks Higher Colorado Casino Taxes
Colorado casinos are in the frame in Gov. Jared Polis' last budget. The outgoing governor released his eighth and final spending proposal on Monday, November 2, and it asks for higher taxes on gaming, tobacco and nicotine to pay for childcare and preschool. The pitch lands in a state where sports betting already contributes to state coffers, but where casino taxes have been a separate matter since the 1990s.
The budget letter, linked from the governor's office announcement, describes the gaming change as part of a request labelled Statewide R-13. It would raise taxes on gaming establishments to the national average. Of the new gaming money, 75% would support preschool and childcare programs, and the other 25% would go to existing recipients of gaming revenue.
CBS News Colorado reports that the proposal asks voters to increase taxes on casinos, tobacco and nicotine by a combined $129 million. The budget letter frames the changes as proposals for legislatively referred measures, meaning voters would have the final say rather than the governor.
What The Budget Asks Of Tobacco And Nicotine
The same request targets other products. According to the budget letter, the Proposition EE taxes on cigarettes and tobacco would rise by roughly 80%, while the tax on nicotine products would go from 62% to 80%. Proposition EE is the 2020 ballot measure that created the nicotine tax and directed revenue to early childhood programs.
Casinos would be the third leg. Colorado has permitted limited-stakes gambling in the historic mining towns of Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek since 1991, and the state levies its gaming tax on adjusted gross proceeds, the amount wagered minus the amount paid out to players. The Colorado Legislative Council describes that tax on its gaming tax page.
The budget documents reviewed for this story do not set out a casino tax schedule beyond the national-average target, so the exact rate any operator would pay is not yet defined.
Why The Plan May Change
The proposal is a starting point rather than a done deal. As Chalkbeat Colorado notes, the governor must submit a budget by the start of November and the six-member Joint Budget Committee typically uses it as a guide when it drafts the state's spending plan once the legislative session opens in January.
The outlet adds that the outcome of Tuesday's election, including the governor's race and two education funding ballot measures, will weigh heavily on how the picture looks. The wider budget is tight.
Colorado faces a shortfall of more than $1 billion for a third straight year, according to Chalkbeat. Polis proposes slowing Medicaid growth to 4.3% in the 2027-28 fiscal year and adding $212.1 million for K-12 schools, which would lift average per-pupil funding to $12,814.
For casino operators, the headline is the direction of travel. Other states have also looked at gaming revenue to plug gaps, as West Virginia's push to lift iGaming and sports betting taxes to 25% showed. Whether Colorado's lawmakers and voters agree to follow suit will not be clear until the next governor and legislature take up the budget next year.
