Colorado Rockies' Success Equals Taxes?

The only downside to the Colorado Rockies' phenomenal postseason success--a better chance for property tax increases:

The Rockies maiden voyage to the World Series seems to have lifted the mood and spirit of a city.

But will the excitement make Denver property owners more likely to increase their taxes next month?

At least one local pollster and Denver Councilman Charlie Brown, who has run 20 or more political campaigns, think it could.

"There's nothing like either a Super Bowl or a World Series to put everybody on cloud nine," said pollster Floyd Ciruli.

"If (voters) feel positive about what's happening in their city, they have a tendency to be more inclined to vote 'yes,'" Brown said.
. . .
"You couldn't have better luck than to have a local baseball team win this historic opportunity to play in the World Series on the very day that people start to vote," said Ciruli, who is part of a team of political pros Hickenlooper assembled to sell the ballot package to voters.

Brown called Hickenlooper "damn lucky."

"I don't care if you did direct mail pieces every day, you can't buy the feeling of good will in the city and county of Denver, indeed in the state of Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region," he said. "You can't put a price tag on it."

Positive civic pride may influence a small amount of voters who are both baseball fans and see the tax increases as a chance to reinvest in the city. Not sure how many of those who have no clue about the Rockies' win streak would translate such a feeling into Yes votes, but hosting the World Series in Denver for the first time in history can't hurt.

Let's hope that most of the laundry list of proposed tax increases (and the Boston Red Sox) fare as well as the rest of the Rockies' recent opponents!