DENVER—Colorado’s property tax administrator expects to see more people challenging how much their homes are worth this year, as home prices tumble around the country.
By May 1, property taxpayers will have received notices of the assessed values of their homes as of June 30, 2008. They have until June 1 to protest the value to county assessors. Properties are reappraised every two years.
When the economy was stronger, Colorado housing values generally didn’t soar as high as in coastal areas, so they had less room to fall, said JoAnn Groff, property tax administrator for Colorado. Yet some homeowners may question why their values didn’t fall more.
“We suspect there will be more protests this year because of national news about declining value. If people don’t see a decline, they’re going to wonder why,” Groff said.
Some homeowners might protest their assessments in a bid to lower tax bills, said Todd Davidson of PropertyTaxSlash.com, which analyzes property values.
In 2007, county assessors received 129,234 protests of different kinds of properties including homes, according to state figures.
Values can vary widely by region and neighborhood.
In Garfield County, which has benefited from oil and gas activity, the projected overall value of residential property was estimated to be up 28 percent from the last assessment two years ago, according to an April 15 report to the Legislature. The report showed that overall values for residential property in Adams and Weld counties, which have had relatively high foreclosure activity in the state, were expected to be down.
