Boulder County property taxes could see large increases

Boulder County property values — and their associated taxes — could see dramatic increases in the next tax year.

Assessors across Colorado, including Boulder County Assessor Cynthia Braddock, will begin sending out property valuation notices May 1. State property values are established every two years in the odd numbered year, making 2023 a reappraisal year.

Determining property taxes is a three step process in Colorado. First, the assessor determines the actual value of a property.

Colorado property owners are only taxed on the assessed value of the property, which is determined by the state legislature. The assessment rate is currently set to be 6.76% this year, up to 6.8% in 2024 and 7.15% in 2025.

The assessed value is then taxed based on the taxing districts the property resides in through mill levies — think school district, fire districts and local government.

This makes the assessor’s office work the first but not only step in determining how much property owners must pay in taxes. What they base those values on may be a cause of concern for many homeowners.

“To arrive at the reappraisal value we are required to use sales data from the sales data collection period of July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2022,” Braddock said. “These data are reviewed, and as required by law, time adjusted to reflect the market conditions on June 30, 2022.”

Unfortunately, June 30, 2022 was around when home values peaked in Colorado. The median sales price for a single family home in Boulder County was $940,000 in June 2022, compared to $842,500 this past February, according to the Colorado Association of Realtors.

For comparison, when property taxes were last assessed in 2021 using June 2020 data, the median single family sales price in Boulder County was $602,961 — 55.9% less than the median sales price for the current assessment.

“Property sales during the data collection period that we are required to use had higher sales prices than we saw in previous data collection periods,” Braddock confirmed.

She said that her office has not finished the process, so she couldn’t say what areas or properties might be seeing the largest assessment increases.

While Colorado is tied for the third lowest property tax rate in the U.S., rising property bills would have major effects, especially on people with fixed incomes.

Braddock added that from May 1 to June 8, the assessor’s office accepts real property appeals. During this time, property owners can appeal their property value.

“Examples of reasons to appeal might be that the description of their property is incorrect or, based on a comparison of their property with those that sold between July 1, 2020-June 30, 2022, they don’t agree with their value,” Braddock said.