Our representative in the Colorado House of Representatives, Rep. Barbara McLachlan, is hosting a Zoom “Town Hall” tonight, Wednesday June 28, at 6pm… on the topic of property taxes.
A subject near and dear to our hearts, lately.
Rep. McLachlan will be joined by Rep. Shannon Bird, vice-chair of the Joint Budget Committee… and Rep. Mike Weissman, one of the prime sponsors of SB23-303.
SB23-303 — “Reduce Property Taxes And Voter-approved Revenue Change” — requires the Secretary of State to refer a ballot issue to voters at the November 2023 election, asking voters whether property taxes should be reduced, and seeking voter approval to retain and spend excess state revenues that will be used to backfill some of the reduced property tax revenue. Most of the bill becomes effective only if the voters approve the ballot issue.
It’s a complicated issue, and we all might want to learn more about it.
And speaking of learning more about property taxes, Archuleta County Assessor Johanna Tully-Elliot sat down with the Board of County Commissioners yesterday morning to go over some pertinent facts. The Assessor staff is currently responding to property valuation protests.
If the staff (and Assessor Tully-Elliot) agrees with the protest, the new 2023 valuation will be adjusted accordingly.
If the Assessor denies the protest, then the property owner has until July 15 to file an appeal with the County Board of Equalization. The CBOE.
The CBOE consists of our three County Commissioners. Ronnie Maez, Veronica Medina, and Warren Brown.
Ms. Tully-Elliot wanted to share several pages of definitions and charts and maps with the commissioners, and explain in some detail how she and her staff determined the higher property values that were announced in May. She noted that the processes her office uses are defined by the State of Colorado, and her final values are also audited by the State.
Ms. Tully-Elliot:
“My staff has done an amazing job with a huge amount of work right now. We ended up with about 2,340 protests. So they are cranking out about 35 to 40 a day, each appraiser. I also want to thank the Treasurer’s office, because they’ve jumped in and helped us fold and all kinds of stuff. So it’s neat to see how all the offices have come together to help us meet the deadline on Friday.”
She gave a slightly uncomfortable laugh.
The Assessor’s responses to the protests are due by June 30. Did we mention, there is an opportunity to appeal her decision, with a deadline of July 15? It’s assumed that the resulting CBOE hearings will last at least a couple of weeks.
Ms. Tully-Elliot explained why she wanted to share several pages of definitions and charts and maps with the commissioners, who will be acting as the CBOE.
“The job of the Assessor is a huge job, and when it comes to the CBOE appeals, we’re going to be throwing out all different kinds of terminology and processes and stuff, and this is a good way to talk about everything that we have to do, and all the terminology that we’re going to be using during that time frame.
“I know that some of it seems very simple, but it’s amazing how some of these terms can get improperly used…”
After sitting in the audience on Tuesday morning and listening to 40 minutes of explanations, and questions, and answers, I came away thinking…
Damn. It’s too bad those 2,340 property owners weren’t sitting here and listening to Ms. Tully-Elliot’s explanations… and able to read that packet of information, and ask questions.
(Following the meeting, I asked Ms. Tully-Elliot if she would send me a copy of the information packet, and she said she would. I told her I would email her, and remind her — knowing she’s pretty busy at the moment — but unfortunately, the email bounced back. I will try and get a copy to share in Part Two of this editorial series, tomorrow.)
Ms. Tully-Elliot noted that Colorado uses three different approaches to property appraisal. In the case of homes and vacant land, values are based on comparable sales: the ‘market approach’. In the case of agricultural property and commercial property, a ‘cost approach’ or ‘income approach’ might be used.
Here are a few important terms for residential protesters to understand:
Subject property. That is your property, the one you are protesting the valuation of.
Comparable properties. These are properties that sold between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2022, and that are similar to your subject property. Homes similar to your subject property that did not sell during the appraisal period are not comparable properties.
Target date. The State of Colorado set the target date as June 30, 2022. The Assessor is expected to estimate, accurately, the value of each property in the county, as if it were sold to a willing seller by a willing buyer in an ‘arm’s length transaction’ on June 30, 2022. Properties that sold early in the appraisal period are ‘time adjusted’ according to market trends during the two-year period, to estimate a value on June 30, 2022.
Performing this task perfectly is, of course, impossible… which is why mistakes are inevitable, and why the County has a protest process.
Actual Value. The appraised value of your property on June 30, 2022. The price the Assessor believes you could have sold your property for on that day.
Assessed value. The value that the Treasurer will use to calculate the property taxes collected for each local taxing entity. For residential property, the Actual Value is multiplied by .06765. For commercial property, vacant land, and agricultural property, the Actual Value is multiplied by .29. These percentages are set by state law.
Notice of Determination. “This is what we are in the process of preparing, right now, to notify the property owners of the determination. So whether approved or denied, and whether any adjustments have been made. The notices will go out on Friday.”
When the notice will arrive in your mailbox depends on the Post Office, I suppose.