Colorado 48th in State Tax Burden.

Colorado ranks 48th in per capita state taxes (i.e. only South Dakota and Texas impose fewer dollars of state taxes per capita). But, this is partially a statistical quirk. Colorado collects a significantly larger share of state and local tax revenues at the local level (59%) than most states do (the national average is slightly under 50%), to a great extent because it has taken the fairly unusual step of allowing local governments to impose sales taxes. The TABOR amendment, which has kept state funding for things like higher education particularly low in Colorado, is another important cause for Colorado's low ranking.