A citizens’ group that includes two former mayors has filed a second request for a state investigation into whether the Adams County assessor gave tax breaks to campaign contributors.
The request came in response to a Denver Post story listing contributors whose taxable property values had been reduced or had not changed in years.
The county assessor, Gil Reyes, recently asked the state Division of Property Taxation to review whether his office had violated or evaded any property tax laws.
Reyes said he believes his assessments are accurate but that his office would fix any mistakes.
The new request cited the Post story and asked the state to “conduct an audit on those properties listed,” along with “a few random properties” for comparison.
Noel Busck, a former mayor of Thornton, sent the request along with five other taxpayers. One was Jan Pawlowski, the former mayor of Brighton.
JoAnn Groff, Colorado’s property tax administrator, responded that the group’s complaint “falls within the scope of the investigation” her agency has already initiated at Reyes’ request. But she said her staff may call on them to discuss their request in more detail.
The Post found that the leading contributor to Reyes’ 2002 and 2006 campaigns, a California-based warehouse company, had won appeals that reduced taxable values of 11 buildings by a total of $23 million, and that Reyes personally handled the appeals. The value reductions saved the Majestic Commercenter warehouses more than $800,000 in property taxes last year alone.
Assessed values at those warehouses, built near Interstate 70 south of Denver International Airport, are identical or nearly identical to their assessed values in 2003.
David Olinger: 303-954-1498 or dolinger@denverpost.com
