El Paso County Assessor Issues Notices of Property Valuation 

May 12, 2023 – El Paso County has issued notices of property valuation, and residents may notice that their property has significantly increased in value this year compared to previous years. In addition, significant increases in valuations are being observed nationwide and statewide at least partially due to supply chain and inflation issues. The Assessor’s Office, using a method set by state statute that uses the sale of homes from January 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022, determines property valuations. The BOCC has not raised the tax rates and is not legally able to do so because the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) requires voter approval of any tax rate increases.

“I understand residents’ concern with the increase in property valuation,” said Assessor Mark Flutcher. “I want residents to know that the increase in valuation will not be the same increase for property taxes because tax rates will be set in the fall and are governed by the Taxpayers Bill of Rights.”

In addition, another contributing factor is the repeal of the Gallagher Amendment. The Gallagher Amendment was passed in 1982 by the voters of Colorado and was meant to deal with sky rocketing property taxes. Previously, in cases when Coloradans’ residential home values went up, the assessment rate went down, and the non-residential side would go up to compensate.

Residents that have concerns that their property taxes will go up the same percentage increase as their assessed value should keep in mind these important points:

• The amount your Actual ‘Market’ Value increased does not mean your property taxes will go up by the same amount, and the estimated taxes may be less. Why?
  • Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR Amendment)
  • Residential and Non-Residential Assessment Rates
  • Taxing Entities 2023 Mill Levies

• Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR Amendment)
  • The Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) Amendment was approved by voters in 1992. This Amendment to the Constitution of the State of Colorado generally limits the amount of revenue governments in the state can retain and spend. Absent voter approval, it requires excess revenue to be refunded to taxpayers. TABOR also requires voter approval for certain tax increases, and to retain excess revenues. The TABOR revenue limit is generally equal to the prior fiscal year’s limit plus the rate of inflation and population growth in Colorado, subject to a voter-approved floor.
  • The statutory “5.5%” Property Tax Revenue Limit, also known as the “Annual Levy Law” (Section 29-1-301, et seq., C.R.S), restricts the amount of total property tax revenue that a local government may collect each year. Therefore, anyone with a home value assessment increase above this is protected from significantly increasing their taxes. Because of this law, we must temporarily reduce our certified mill levy. We are subject to both TABOR and this 5.5% mill levy law. Because of those two factors, El Paso County will not issue our full mill levy when the assessment growth is more than those laws allow.
  • Regardless of what your new Actual ‘Market’ Value is, many of our taxing entities portion of your property tax can only grow by a limited amount. While overall property valuations grew significantly, El Paso County will be issuing temporary mill levy reductions to ensure property tax revenues do not grow faster than our TABOR Amendment limit or current Mill Levy Laws allow.

• Residential and Non-Residential Assessment Rates
  • With the repeal of the Gallagher Amendment in 2020, the Residential and Non-Residential (Commercial Property, Vacant Land, Industry, Oil and Gas, and Lodging Properties) is determined by our State Legislature each year.  For 2023, the Assessment Rates are:
    • Single Family Residential is 6.765%
    • Commercial Property, Vacant Land, Industry, Oil & Gas, and Lodging Properties is 27.9%
    • Renewal Energy Production is 26.4%
    • Agricultural Property is 26.4%
    • Multi-Family Housing (Apartment, Duplexes, 4-Plexes, etc.) is 6.765%

• Taxing Entities 2023 Mill Levies
  • Your ‘ESTIMATED’ property tax valuations are determined by where you live.  Different school districts, library districts, improvement districts, special districts, cities, towns, and the county all have different mill levies related to how much property tax is collected. In El Paso County, there are many districts. Below is the number of each type of district in El Paso County.
    • County, City & Towns = 9
    • Fire & Library Districts = 23
    • Sanitation Districts = 2
    • Water Districts = 10
    • Sanitation & Water Districts = 4
    • School Districts = 17
    • Special Districts = 31
    • Metropolitan Districts = 185
  • The ‘ESTIMATED’ property tax located at the bottom of your 2023 Notice of Value (NOV) assumes our mill levies will remain the same as tax year 2022.  Many of the above referenced taxing entities will have to reduce their mill levies to follow our Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) Amendment.

• • Please note:  It is our elected board officials for these taxing entities that are responsible for determining and approving their annual mill levy.  In accordance with Colorado Law, they are required to submit their yearly mill levy to our County Assessor no later than December 15th of each year, which is why the property tax included in our Notice of Value (NOV) is ‘ESTIMATED’.

If you have concerns or disagree with your assessed value, you have from May 1, 2023, through June 8, 2023, to appeal. You can appeal your property value online by visiting https://assessor.elpasoco.com/.