1999-04-01_GENERAL DOCUMENTS - C1981017 (2)

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Plan is a contract rather than recognizing the Liquidation Plan as a judgment, MCR's second, third, and fourth claims fail to state claims upon which relief can be granted. 2. MCR's Second and Third Claims Allege Breaches of the Division's Statutory Duty to Revegetate and Thus Are Barred by Governmental Immunity. The Colorado Governmental Immunity Act ("CGIA") provides that a"public entity shall be immune from liability in all claims for injury which lie in tort or could lie in tort regardless of whether they may be the type of action or the form of relief chosen by the claimant except as provided otherwise in this section." C.R.S. § 24-10-106(1)(emphasis added). Thus, the CGIA provides that a public entity shall be immune from liability in all claims for injury which lie in tort or could lie in tort unless the injury is among those for which immunity has been expressly waived. Berg v. State Bd. of Agriculture, 919 P.2d 254, 258 (Colo. 1996), quoting Board of Count' Comm'rs of Summit Cou=v. DeLozier, 917 P.2d 714, 716 (Colo. 1996). The CGIA is a recognition of the desirability of including in one article all the circumstances under which the state may be liable in actions other than contract. C.R.S. § 24-10-102. The purpose of the CGIA is to allow the government to go about its business without the fear of interruption of legal action which might act as a drain upon its resources and treasury. Ace Flying Service v. Colorado Department of Agriculture, 314 P.2d 278 (Colo. 1957). As the Colorado Supreme Court has recently stated: Section 24-10-102 recognizes that unlimited liability of public employees `could disrupt or make prohibitively expensive ... essential public services, and functions'; that limitations are necessary to `protect the taxpayer against excessive fiscal burdens'; and that `public employees should be protected; so that they will not be `discouraged from providing the services or functions 7