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When the lamps illuminating Ralph Kelly’s street were switched off, he and his neighbours together paid the city about $100 to “adopt” a streetlight and reignite a shared bulb. There was also an “adopt a trash can” program, where the city supplied the bin but residents hauled the garbage to privately run participating dumpsters.

This all happened, in part, because in November 2009, Colorado Springs voters said “no.” They said “no” to a property tax increase that would have cost the average homeowner roughly $200. And they had the power to say “no” because of TABOR, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.

The legislation, first passed in Colorado Springs in 1992 and soon adopted by the state, basically blocks the government from raising taxes or introducing new ones unless the people vote “yes” in a referendum.

Residents tend to vote “no” unless the bump is targeted for something tangible — a particular road improvement or trail maintenance, for example — and many here hold a “tough love” view of government entitlements.

I don’t want to pay a whole bunch of property taxes for things I might not need

“I don’t want to pay a whole bunch of property taxes for things I might not need,” said Norb Tornes, who runs a popcorn vending business called Pikes Pop. “When my forefathers came here, they didn’t have a pot to piss in — nobody sat there and said, ‘We’re going to give you a whole lotta love’ … This isn’t The Land Of Sit On Your Asses.”

Taxes, then, have remained enviously low — Mr. Tornes said he pays $1,000 in property taxes on his $250,000 five-bedroom home in a well-to-do neighbourhood with a reputable public school.