JUSTICE HOOD delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 In 2011, OXY USA Inc. ("Oxy"), made a mistake that caused it to overpay its property taxes on oil and gas produced from leaseholds in Mesa County. Oxy failed to deduct certain costs it was entitled to deduct. By the time it realized the mistake, the protest period had expired. The company nonetheless contends it is entitled to abatement and refund of the overpayment pursuant to section 39-10-114(1)(a)(I)(A), C.R.S. (2017). But the...
JUSTICE M RQUEZ delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 In 2013, Douglas County School District (the "District") used public funds to commission a white paper (the "Hess Report") supportive of the District's reform agenda. The Hess Report referenced an upcoming school board election and briefly profiled existing school board members, all of whom supported the reform agenda. The District included a link to the Hess Report in an email distributed to 85,000 Douglas County residents several...
JUSTICE M RQUEZ delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 The petitioner in this case, Kinder Morgan CO 2 Company, L.P., operates oil and gas leaseholds in Montezuma County, Colorado. In 2009, the assessor for Montezuma County issued a corrective tax assessment on these leaseholds for the previous tax year, retroactively assessing over $2 million in property taxes, after an auditor concluded that Kinder Morgan underreported the value of gas produced at the leaseholds. Kinder Morgan...
JUSTICE EID delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Pursuant to section 1-40-107, C.R.S. (2016), petitioners Scott E. Smith and D. Michael Kopp ("Petitioners"), both registered electors, appeal the actions of the Ballot Title Setting Board ("Title Board") regarding the setting of the title and ballot title and submission clause for Proposed Initiative 2017-2018 #4 ("Initiative #4") (for tracking purposes, captioned "Limit on Local Housing Growth"). 1 First we consider whether Initiative #...
JUSTICE M RQUEZ delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Creager Mercantile Co., Inc., a wholesale distributor of groceries and tobacco products, sells Blunt Wraps, a type of cigar wrapper made of thirty to forty-eight percent tobacco. Blunt Wraps are designed to be filled with additional tobacco or marijuana and then smoked. We are asked to decide whether Blunt Wraps may be taxed as "tobacco products," as that term is defined in section 39-28.5-101(5), C.R.S. (2016). Because Blunt Wraps...
1 This case requires us to determine whether the Innovation Schools Act of 2008 ("ISA"), 22-32.5-101 to -111, C.R.S. (2016), precludes a local school board from approving an innovation plan submitted by a "new" innovation school, that is, a school that has not previously opened as a non-innovation school and has yet to hire teachers. 1 We hold that the ISA does not preclude approval of innovation plans from such "new" innovation schools. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the court of...
1 Denver petitioned for review of the court of appeals opinion reversing the judgment of the district court and remanding with directions to vacate the subject tax assessments against Expedia and the other respondent online travel companies ("OTCs"). See Expedia, Inc. v. City & Cty. of Denver , 2014 COA 87, 405 P.3d 251 . The district court had largely upheld a Denver hearing officer's denial of protests by Expedia and the other OTCs to Denver's claim for unpaid taxes, interest, and penalties,...
