In October 2023, Colorado Public radio published an interesting article about property taxes titled “Property Taxes Explained: Will that 40 percent value jump really mean 40 percent higher taxes? The CPR article states:
“Coloradans received some truly eye-opening letters from their county governments this year.
In parts of Western Colorado, the taxable value of the average home is 55 percent higher than just a couple years ago. It was an 80 percent average increase for Pitkin County. On the Front Range, Douglas County homes have gained 40 percent in value.
Those were the outliers, but not by much. The average Colorado home gained 37 percent in value over just two years, according to preliminary data analyzed by CPR News.
That story is well-known by now, as countless headlines have warned that sharp increases in value will lead to much larger tax bills next year. It’s also turned into a major political fight through the ballot measure known as Prop. HH.
Still, there’s a bigger question that’s gotten lost in the shuffle: How much are tax bills actually going to increase, and where would all that money go?
The short answer is — it all depends on where you live. But here’s what we’ve learned about the bigger picture:
Where are property values rising the fastest?"
CPR News analyzed property valuation data for every county in the state. Based on that information, we built a database of where values were rising fastest. The following table reflects the overall change in value for the average parcel with a single family home on it.
Values can rise due to a number of factors, such as improvements made by a homeowner, but the biggest driver is just the market itself.
View Chart On The Article Here: https://www.cpr.org/2023/10/19/colorado-property-taxes-values-explainer/ “
Where Do My Property Taxes Go?
Property taxes can vary widely from county to county, or even from block to block.
That’s because each property pays taxes toward a variety of different districts — some large, some small. Besides your local governments and schools, you also might be paying property taxes to an arts district, a parks district, a fire protection district and more. Each one of those districts sets its own property tax rate, which adds up to your total mill levy.
ln general, schools are the largest recipients of property taxes, sometimes accounting for more than half of tax bills.
Read the CPR.org article on Property Taxes Are About To Raise Next Year: Can Your Local Government Do Anything About It
Who to talk to about your property tax rates?
Look up your most recent property tax bill. This often is available on your county assessor’s website.
You should see a list of taxing districts and a “mill levy,” which is like a property tax rate, for each one. The higher the mill levy, the more property taxes you pay to them.
You can contact the districts’ boards, check their agendas, or attend meetings to learn about their plans for property taxes.
It will be interesting to research if this will happen in other states and counties this year.
