Frustrated with Denver area property value increases, homeowners in Colorado have until June 8 to protest valuations. Here’s what you need to know to appeal and find property tax exemptions.
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Denver7 sat down with Associate Broker Jessica Leicht of The Leicht Source Realty to talk about how homeowners can craft a strong appeal.
DENVER — Homeowners in the Denver metro area and across Colorado staring down massive increases in property taxes have a limited window to appeal property valuations as the deadline to protest is quickly approaching.
Based on state statute, county assessors in Colorado revalue every residential and commercial property based upon what they’re worth as of June 30 of every even-numbered year.
In late April, nine metro Denver assessors came together to warn of an "historic" bump in home values that could lead to homeowners paying significantly more taxes in 2024.
At the beginning of May, as property valuations became available, reality struck many homeowners who have been shocked by their new appraisals.
Coloradans have 10 days left to appeal property valuationMany experts across the political spectrum are anything but surprised.
Scott Wasserman, president of the Bell Policy Center, a left-leaning policy organization, points to several key factors impacting property appraisals in Colorado in a historic fashion, beginning with the repeal of the Gallagher amendment in 2020.
“From 1982 until 2020, when Coloradans’ residential home values went up, the assessment rate went down and the business side, the non-residential side, would go up to compensate,” Wasserman said.
“When we got rid of the Gallagher amendment in 2020, that meant that when residential home values go up, so will residential property values,” he added.
In some cases, residential property values in the Denver region have skyrocketed between 35 and 45%, according to a report from Denver metro assessors.
Property owners in mountain communities have seen an even higher increase in valuations, in some cases jumping 60 to 80%.
Before becoming the representative for House District 45, State Rep. Lisa Frizellwas the Douglas County Assessor. The Republican lawmaker was in the assessor's office back in 2009 during the Great Recession and told Denver7 she is worried about Coloradans paying property taxes on a depreciating home.
"Colorado's property tax policy is really geared for appreciating values because we value tax in arrears," Rep. Frizell said. "So you get your notice in May, looking backward, and usually you're like, you know, while my home is actually worth more than that in an appreciating market, in a depreciating market, you're paying taxes on a value that literally no longer exists. And that's devastating for homeowners and renters."
Homeowners have been paying taxes based upon June 2020 home values, which was during the pandemic when home prices were lower. This time around, property assessments have been calculated using home values in June 2022, when home prices were close to peaking in Colorado.
With no Gallagher Amendment available to offer a reprieve for homeowners, frustrated property owners and experts worry the big jump could lead to a crisis if nothing is done.
Gov. Jared Polis and legislators have shared a proposed change that, if adopted by lawmakers and voters in November, would allow taxpayers to deduct $40,000 from their appraised value and would slightly decrease the tax rate from the current 6.75% to 6.7%.
Here's a hypothetical example of what that could mean for taxpayers, from Denver7 reporter Rob Harris.
Let's say in June 2020, a home in Douglas County was valued at $545,000. Then in June 2022, the estimated property valuation jumped to $780,000 — an eye-opening 43% increase. That means the hypothetical homeowner in Douglas County would be looking at a $2,152 tax increase under Colorado law.
Allowing a homeowner to deduct $40,000 from their appraised value would also decrease the tax rate, slightly decreasing the pain leaving them owing $1,858 in property tax.
In this case, under the proposed legislative change, the taxpayer would be looking at saving around $300.
While politicians work on finding relief for worried homeowners, many readers and viewers have asked Denver7 to follow up on what property tax relief options are available. We’ve also received questions about how to file an appeal on your Colorado property assessment.
While the process to appeal property values is similar no matter where your home is located in Colorado, this story will give homeowners property tax appeal details specific to Denver metro counties.
We’ll also share contact information for each office of the county assessor in Colorado including phone numbers, plus more details about each county’s assessor’s specific process.
First, no matter where you call home in Colorado, there’s one deadline to protest your property values: June 8, 2023.
The window to file an appeal on property assessments opened on May 1 and homeowners have less than three weeks to file an appeal in Colorado.
Overall, there are resources available to help property owners who generally have three options when protesting property values. Filing an appeal online with most assessor offices is generally a straightforward process with supporting FAQs often available. Assessor websites allow property owners to search property information, find mill levy information and search interactive maps showing property value changes in the Denver metro area.
An online form can be printed and mailed to the county assessor’s office or can be downloaded and emailed.
Completed property value protest forms can also be delivered in-person. In Denver, appeals can be dropped off at the Assessment Division inside the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building at 201 W. Colfax Avenue.
Denver also has a protest phone line at 720-913-4164 for people with questions about filing an appeal.
Some counties also have drop box locations to deliver appeal documents. Arapahoe County lists five locations, two of which are in Aurora. Scroll down to find drop box locations across the metro.
Metro Denver assessors fear high property taxes after 'historic' bump in home valuesDenver7 spoke to several county assessors in the state about how to best prepare a protest and what helps homeowners file a successful appeal.
The reasons to appeal what is in the appraisal generally falls into two categories: a discrepancy with the physical characteristics of the property and proof that similar properties have actually sold for less than what is shown in the assessor’s valuation.
Denver’s county assessor offers this advice: First, review your statement and ensure the basic numbers are correct, then consider property issues the county assessor might not be aware of.
“Many property owners know their properties quite well, certainly better than the assessors do. We can't visit each and every property every two years, so we do rely on a bit of collaboration with the property owner,” said Denver County Assessor Keith Erffmeyer. “Any appeal we would look for, you know, reasoning as to why that particular property owner feels the value is excessive.”
Erffmeyer said some of the issues to consider in an appeal include any variance in the property’s square footage or inaccurate characteristics about the house, like an incorrect number of bathrooms in the valuation or a basement that is unfinished.
“Maybe conditional issues that are present with the property that we’re not aware of because we haven’t gotten into the property,” Erffmeyer said. “Sometimes properties do fall behind in terms of their maintenance and repair, and that can lead to a valuation that doesn't reflect those issues.”
An early look at numbers show around 3,700 property owners had so far appealed their valuations in 2023, according to numbers provided this week to Denver7 by the assessor's office in Denver.
While there were only 8,716 total appeals during the last appraisal period in 2021, the assessor's office said 2019 was a more typical year when the the city and county of Denver received 13,038 appeals. That number included appeals from residential, commercial and property owners.
The assessor's office in Denver said it expected to see the majority of appeals during the week leading up to June 8.
Over in Arapahoe County, assessor PK Kaiser recently told Denver7 his office had seen a minimum amount of property owners hand-delivering appeals with most valuation protests coming in online.
Arapahoe County residents now receive a QR code with their property valuation that can help save time when drafting an appeal.
"When our homeowners are appealing their values, we want them to make sure that they provide us very quantitative information," Kaiser said. “They can reach to the property page, where we put the five houses we compare their house with and see if those houses are correctly described there. If they are not OK with that, they can ask us and we will provide the complete list of the houses sold in their neighborhood.”
Remember, the proposed valuations are based upon the market in June 2022, not what your home is currently valued at by searching on real estate home websites like Redfin and Zillow.
“We have accurate information about your house and about the neighborhood and county as a whole,” Kaiser said. “We are happy to help online, in person, by mail, phone, fax, email, by video conference. Any possible opportunity at this point, we are keeping it open for our homeowners."
