The Ballot Brief
Colorado ballot measures · 2026

Amendment 87 Graduated Income Tax

Ballot measures › Colorado 2026 › Amendment 87

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Initiated constitutional amendment and statute (Initiative #195)On the November 3, 2026 ballot

Did it pass? The official answer comes when Colorado certifies the count.

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What local news is reporting

Not official yetUpdated November 4, 2026

This report is cited to the outlet that published it. We do not call results.

Amendment 87: Graduated Income Tax
Too close to call, The Colorado Sun reported.The Colorado Sun, “Colorado voters split over Amendment 87 tax hikes on rich, with race still too close to call”, November 4, 2026. Unofficial until certified.

Reports are checked daily until Colorado certifies the count; the official result is the state's certified count.

Colorado Amendment 87 (Graduated Income Tax) is on the November 3, 2026 ballot. Replace Colorado's flat 4.4 percent income tax with graduated rates by income level for individuals, estates, trusts and corporations, amending TABOR's single-rate requirement; the ballot title states it would increase state taxes by $2.7 billion a year for K-12 education, health care and early child care; as a constitutional change it requires 55 percent voter approval

As of November 4, 2026, The Colorado Sun reported that Colorado Amendment 87 was too close to call; the result is unofficial until Colorado certifies it.

What a yes or no vote means

A YES vote Supports replacing the flat income tax rate with graduated rates and raising state revenue for schools, health care and child care.
A NO vote Keeps the single 4.4 percent income tax rate.
Read the certified ballot question

Replace Colorado's flat 4.4 percent income tax with graduated rates by income level for individuals, estates, trusts and corporations, amending TABOR's single-rate requirement; the ballot title states it would increase state taxes by $2.7 billion a year for K-12 education, health care and early child care; as a constitutional change it requires 55 percent voter approval

Verify with the state: official full text and details →.

See everything else on your Colorado ballot

About this measure

How it reached the ballot

Colorado initiatives - constitutional or statutory - need signatures equal to 5 percent of the votes cast for secretary of state at the previous general election (124,238 for the 2023-2026 cycle), and constitutional initiatives additionally need signatures from 2 percent of registered voters in each of the state's 35 senate districts. The Legislature refers statutes by majority vote and constitutional amendments by a two-thirds vote of each chamber. Most measures pass by simple majority, but any measure that adds language to the constitution requires 55 percent approval.

About this page

Wording above follows the certified ballot language; The Ballot Brief does not take positions on measures.

Other Colorado statewide measures in 2026

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