© 2025
In touch with the world ... at home on the High Plains
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
KJJP-FM 105.7 FM serving Amarillo/Canyon and the central Texas Panhandle will be off the air on Monday from about 7am until 3pm. This shutdown is required while repairs are made to guy wires on the Channel 10 tower used by KJJP. During this outage you can continue listening to HPPR via its digital streams (see the player above) or through the HPPR mobile app.

Pending Court Cases Ask The Question: What's The Difference Between A Tax And A Fee

50STATES.COM

What’s the difference between a tax and a fee?

As The Denver Post reports, that's the question being asked in three major court cases in Colorado.  

In one case, a small business coalition is arguing that the Secretary of State’s office has been illegally using business filing fees to cover the cost of a myriad of government services that are completely unrelated to those fees.

A more significant case involves the TABOR Foundation’s challenge of the constitutionality of a $264 million hospital fee that is matched by the federal government for uncompensated medical care.  

The other case involves a 20-cent surcharge on grocery bags.

Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights, or TABOR, requires voter approval to raise taxes but since it was passed in 1992, lawmakers have turned to fees to fund some services because fees don’t require voter approval.

The outcome of the cases could result in a change that would require voter approval for fees, as well.