ALAMOSA — Colorado State Senator Cleave Simpson and State Representative Matt Martinez spoke to the Rotary Club on Monday, and the property tax legislation came up as one of the first points of discussion.

Both Sen. Simpson and Rep. Martinez expressed frustration with legislation, described as complicated and lengthy, being made available to legislators with insufficient time to review — a point they both made previously at an earlier town hall session.

Sen. Simpson mentioned a complaint from a constituent in Costilla County whose property assessment had increased by 400%.

Although the discussion did not go into great detail as the issue is very complex, the November ballot will contain a proposition referred to as Proposition HH that, if passed, will impact property taxes going forward.

Sen. Simpson said he opposes Prop HH, stating that, if the goal of reducing property tax rates is to lessen the burden on property taxpayers, that same goal could be accomplished by special districts, whose mill levies are based on property assessments and are included in property tax bills, could adjust those mill levies to collect less money, thus lowering the overall amount due to the state.

Rep. Martinez, who also opposes Prop. HH, has concerns about a lack of language in the bill that assures rural municipalities — who have smaller populations and rely greatly on property tax revenue — receiving their “fair share” of revenue allocated by the state to make up for the decrease in property tax revenue.

The legislators also talked about both the honor of being elected to serve the public and the rigors of serving in the state legislature — which is clearly more than a full-time job as the last session felt chaotic with a large number of bills being introduced at the last minute.