Proposed sales tax increase to assist developmentally disabled Coloradans

From The Denver Post:

Supporters of an initiative that would raise Colorado's sales tax to benefit those with developmental disabilities said July 28 they have enough signatures to put the issue before voters.

Officials with the Coalition to End the Wait List said they submitted 131,400 signatures to Secretary of State Mike Coffman's office, which has 30 days to validate the signatures.

If placed on the November ballot, the measure would ask Colorado voters to phase in a sales tax increase of two-tenths of a cent over two years to supplement programs for the developmentally disabled, which includes those with autism, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy. Current state sales tax is 2.9 percent. If the measure were fully phased in by 2010, the higher 3.1 percent tax would raise an estimated $186 million a year.

That money would go to end the waiting list for those with developmental disabilities to receive state services, which could include around-the-clock supervision, living accommodations or job training. There are about 9,700 adults and children with developmental disabilities on the state's waiting list for services now, a number that is expected to grow to 12,000 by 2012.

Advocates for the developmentally disabled said the state now serves more than 11,000 at a cost of about $183 million a year.

Supporters of the campaign include former Colorado first lady Frances Owens. "Colorado's waiting list for people with developmental disabilities is not made of nameless, faceless people," she said in a statement. "They are . . . our friends, our neighbors, our sons and our daughters."