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  • Jennifer Stenbak Blog

Let’s Talk About Property Tax Assessments


Suburban neighborhood

If you live in Colorado, you’ll soon receive (if you haven’t already) your property tax assessment. Each county sends out its Notice of Valuation by May 1. Whether you read it and you have questions, or you just want to learn more about what this document means for you, let’s talk about this document and what steps you can take if you want to contest your home’s valuation.


What is property tax?

Property taxes are part of your financial responsibility as a homeowner. Property taxes are a large source of funding for counties for things like schools, local governments, parks and recreation, and more. Property tax is separate from your mortgage, so even if you pay off your home, you’ll still have to pay property tax.


How is property tax calculated?

A local tax assessor will calculate your home’s value by reviewing comparable sales in the area, what type of rental income you could receive if you rented the property, the amount of money it would take to rebuild your home from the ground up, and more. Once the assessment is complete, the assessor will multiply the value by a local tax rate (this can also be referred to as a mill rate or millage rate depending on your location) to determine your property taxes.


What is a Notice of Valuation?

The Notice of Valuation you receive in the mail is the result of the assessor’s valuation of your home. It will walk you through your property’s assessed value, whether it increased or decreased from the previous valuation, and which comparable sales the assessor used to determine your value.


It’s important to remember an increase in your valuation has both benefits and drawbacks. The benefit is that you’re building more equity in your home since its assessed value has risen. That’s a great thing! The drawback is that a higher tax valuation means that you’ll pay more in property taxes.


What if you disagree with the valuation?

If you think the valuation assigned to your home is incorrect, you can dispute it. But please note that you’ll have to dispute it within the time frame set by your county. Sometimes you only have a month to file a dispute, so read your Notice of Valuation carefully!


Should you decide to proceed with a dispute, it’s likely that you’ll need some support from a real estate agent. An agent can look at other comparable sales in your area and help you build a case for why your valuation is too high.


To dispute your valuation, you’ll have to fill out a form and submit detailed information as to why your valuation is incorrect. Depending on your county, the next step could be an official hearing where you can explain the issue to the assessor’s office. After the assessor’s office reviews all of your information, they will issue a decision on whether or not the valuation will be changed.


Do you have questions about your property’s valuation? Even if you aren’t thinking of selling and you just want to have a conversation about your home’s value, reach out to me at 8Z Real Estate! If you are interested in contesting your valuation, I’m here to help you too.


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