Scott Condon/The Aspen Times
Property owners in Colorado will learn this week how the value of their residences, commercial buildings and vacant land has changed in the past two years.
All Colorado counties have reappraised property and are sending owners notifications of the new values today. Counties throughout the state are required to conduct a complete reassessment of all property every two years. The new valuations will affect the property taxes paid for 2019 and 2020.
Eagle County Assessor Mark Chapin said Colorado law requires the valuations to reflect local real estate market sales activity from Jan. 1, 2017, to June 30, 2018. The assessor’s staff can go back further if limited sales activity is available for a specific area.
In Eagle County, the median increase is about 10% for residential property and about 8% for commercial property, Chapin said. Some properties went up more and some less, depending on their neighborhood.
In Eagle County, the median increase is about 10 percent for residential property and about 8 percent for commercial property, according to Assessor Mark Chapin
The higher values reflect a strong real estate market over the past two years and the region’s ongoing shortage of property for sale.
“I think it’s a supply-and-demand market right now,” Chapin said. “There is high demand and a (limited) supply.”
Chapin said he wasn’t able to comment on how the change in property values in the Roaring Fork Valley portion of Eagle County compared with changes in the county as a whole.
Pitkin County Assessor Deb Bamesberger said the new values are as varied as the neighborhoods in Pitkin County.
“Countywide, we could see the whole spectrum — up, down and the same,” she said.
“Sales in and around Aspen are always real strong,” Bamesberger noted. Values may not increase as much in neighborhoods outside of Aspen.
The notices of the new values get dropped in the mail today. Colorado law says that property owners have until June 1 to file an appeal, if they want to do so. Since June 1 falls on a weekend, this year’s deadline to file an appeal is June 3, Bamesberger said.
Appeals or protests must be made with backing evidence — such as the property’s characteristics weren’t listed properly or the new value isn’t supported by market information.
The assessor’s office of each county has until the last working day in June, in this case June 28, to issue a written decision on appeals. If a property owner doesn’t agree with the assessor’s staff decision, an appeal can be filed with the county Board of Equalization by July 15.
Chapin said someone has been mailing solicitation letters to Eagle County property owners indicating a fee is required to file an appeal. There is no charge to file an appeal, he said, so don’t fall for the scam.
Property owners in the El Jebel and Basalt portion of the county can make an appointment to see an appraiser at the Eagle County annex building in El Jebel on Wednesdays in May. They must call 800-225-6136, extension 8640, to make an appointment.
In Pitkin County, property owners can call 970-920-5160 with questions about the appeal process.
Both counties provide information on the assessors’ websites about sales data over the period used for the reappraisals. An Eagle County homeowner in Blue Lake, for example, can refer to sales in that subdivision to see how the assessor’s staff reached the conclusion about a value. The assessor’s website in Pitkin County also provides neighborhood sales information.