All Entries in the "Consumer Issues" Category
Colorado unemployment rises to 4.4%, but state of job market murky due to data issues
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics won’t release job numbers for Colorado in March as dramatic revisions have sparked concerns over state data accuracy. Colorado’s unemployment rate rose to 4.4% in December, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, up from 4.3% the month before. The state’s unemployment rate is more than a […]
ARPA Board adopts 2025 budget at December 2024 meeting
ARPA Board Adopts 2025 Budget: At its December 5, 2024, meeting the ARPA Board of Directors approved its operating budget for 2025 in the amount of $22,797,964. There will be an 8% rate reduction for 2025. This follows on the heels of two previous rate decreases, 3.57% in 2021, and 2% in 2019. The 2025 budget includes: Revenues of […]
Colorado’s new paid family leave program helps more than 135,000 hardworking Coloradans in its first year
Colorado’s Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) Division helped successfully provide and process more than 135,000 paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) claims in its first year of full operation. The FAMLI Division, part of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, announced Friday that the voter approved program distributed roughly $687 million in 2024 […]
City of Lamar November 2024 Sales and Use Tax
City of Lamar November 2024 Sales and Use Tax November Sales and Use Tax Collected in December 2024 2024 2023 Difference from 2023 to 2024 Percentage of Difference City Sales Tax Collected (3%) $391,079.54 $374,204.19 $16,875.35 4.51% Use Tax Collected $37,199.94 $18,681.55 $18,518.39 99.13% Other Collections (Penalties/Interest, Licenses, A/R’s) $2,210.66 -$959.00 $3,169.66 […]
Building a grid good enough to support thousands of new EVs and heat pumps will cost Colorado Xcel customers $5 billion
Visible power lines surrounding the Xcel Cherokee Power Station with the Denver skyline in the distance on December 4, 2024. (Kathryn Scott, Special to The Colorado Sun) State’s largest utility wants new and improved substations to meet “a demand on the grid we haven’t seen since the advent of air conditioning” Xcel Energy, seeking […]
Colorado’s fiscal deficit picture less bleak than expected
Colorado’s fiscal deficit is just a little less bad than it was a few months ago. Meanwhile, there are signs that Colorado’s economy is slowing, even as unemployment is trending up. The December forecast from the General Assembly economists showed lightly improved revenues — the deficit for the 2025-26 budget year would be in the […]
New Colorado laws for 2025
You still might be getting used to the new laws that went into effect in 2024: the end of the U+2 residential occupancy rule, lane filtering for motorcycles, or the polystyrene and Styrofoam food container ban. Just around the corner, 2025 will bring more changes approved by the Colorado General Assembly. All eggs sold in Colorado must be cage-free […]
September 2024 City Sales and Use tax collections down while year-to-date collections show an increase of 6.34%
September sales and use tax numbers for the city were all down from the previous year, with the total tax collections 3.34 below what they were one year ago. When seen as year-to-date numbers, however, the total tax collections were up 6.34% from last year. The only year-to-date number that was down was the […]
Colorado owes taxpayers a total of 1.7 billion in TABOR refunds
The Colorado state government owes taxpayers a total of $1.7 billion in refunds mandated under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. The state collected roughly $1.4 billion more in revenue during the 2024 Fiscal Year than allowed under TABOR, according to a state audit. The state already has roughly $290 million in outstanding TABOR refund liability […]
2025 Colorado health Insurance premiums rising at three times the rate of inflation
With open enrollment for health insurance set to begin in two weeks, Colorado’s Division of Insurance has finalized rates for premiums in the individual and small group markets. Premium increases in both markets for 2025 are set to rise at more than three times the rate of inflation forecast for next year. Individual premium increases […]
August 2024 Sales and Use Tax for Lamar – collected in September
August Sales and Use Tax Collected in September 2024 2024 2023 Difference from 2023 to 2024 % of Difference City Sales Tax Collected (3%) $395,792.07 $388,449.82 $7,342.25 1.89% Use Tax Collected $45,059.43 $41,345.09 $3,714.34 8.98% Other Collections Penalties/interest etc -$188.12 $283.00 -$471.112 -166.47% Total Sales/Use Tax Collections $440,663.38 $430,077.91 $10,585.47 2.46% Vendor’s Commission […]
Medicare Part D participants will have payment options in 2025
CMS released additional guidance regarding Medicare Prescription Payment Plan (MPPP) outreach and education, www.medicarerights.org reported July 25, 2024. The MPPP, sometimes referred to as “smoothing,” was established in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and allows Medicare beneficiaries with Part D to opt into an alternative payment structure for their cost-sharing for covered Part D medications. Starting in 2025, […]
Xcel gas bills to drop almost 12% for rest of 2024 as wholesale gas prices remain low
Colorado’s largest utility will pass on savings as it seeks a permanent rate increase starting in February A combination of growing natural gas production and mild weather, leading to a buildup of stored reserves, will help lower monthly bills for Xcel Energy residential and small commercial customers by as much as 12% for the last […]
City of Lamar July Sales and Use Tax July 2024
Sales and Use taxes for July of 2024, collected in August, show an overall increase of 7.29% from last year, a difference of $30,332.06. Year to date numbers increased as well, by 8.13%, or $282,022.65. Restaurant and liquor stores saw a decline from last year in July’s numbers, as did other retail and hotel/motels. […]
Colorado’s homeowners insurance is 8th highest in nation
This may come as no surprise to homeowners, but the cost of Colorado’s homeowners insurance is the eighth highest in the nation, according to Bankrate, a financial services company that tracks all sorts of monthly bills. At an average of $266 per month or nearly $3,200 a year, premiums are higher here than in states […]
