Assessor

(April 19, 2023) – Saguache County, CO --- Property owners in most of rural Colorado can expect tremendous valuation increases when they receive their 2023 Notice of Valuation on or about May 1, including Saguache County. Over the past two years, a strong demand for real estate, increased building material costs, historically low mortgage rates, and a steady migration from larger cities into rural Colorado have all contributed to these historic valuation increases. Rural Colorado has been discovered and people are paying much higher prices for properties for the opportunity to live here.

Under Colorado law, county assessor offices throughout the state conduct a complete revaluation of all properties in their county every two years. The previous valuations were based on a June 30, 2020 level of value. These valuations used market sales data from July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2020. The new 2023 valuations are based on a June 30, 2022 level of value and were established using market sales data from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2022. These new valuations will be used for tax years 2023 and 2024 (payable in 2024 and 2025 respectively). Any sales transactions occurring after June 30, 2022 cannot be used or considered until the next reappraisal in 2025. The Colorado Legislature sets the appraisal date, the market sales data collection period, and the annual calendar for the assessment process.

In addition to lowering assessment rates, the Colorado Legislature has also provided an actual value exemption of $15,000 per residential property and $30,000 per improved commercial property for tax year 2023. These actual valuation exemptions will not be reflected in the Notices of Valuation but will be applied prior to the 2023 tax bills being sent.

Tax calculations also take mill levies into account. Mill levies are established by the county commissioners, school districts, and the boards of the various taxing entities such as fire, recreation, library, sanitation, cemetery, etc. A summation of these various individual levies is applied to the assessed value to determine the taxes due. It is undetermined at this time what the 2023 mill levies will do since the taxing entities will not set their 2023 mill levies until later this fall during their budget hearings.

The assessor’s office is solely responsible for establishing valuations, not taxes. To accomplish this, the assessor uses actual market sales transactions to build a mass appraisal valuation model that is then used to set the values on all properties within the county. With the 2020 repeal of the Gallagher Amendment to the State Constitution, assessment rates are now dictated by the Colorado Legislature for all 64 Colorado Counties.

Ultimately, the assessor’s goal is to equalize property values and ensure that the tax burden is distributed fairly and equitably among property owners within the statutory and constitutional guidelines of the State of Colorado.

Property owners have recourse through exemptions for those who qualify, and protests.

“There are exemptions for seniors, disabled veterans and gold star spouses,” Saguache County Assessor, Peter Peterson, explained. “Veterans and gold star spouses must apply through the Division of Veterans Affairs, while seniors may apply through the Assessor's Office. Seniors must be 65 years old as of January 1 and have owned/lived in their house as their primary residence for 10 years or more. The exemption exempts half of the first $200,000 of property's actual value from taxes.”

The protest deadline has been extended to June 8 this year.

For questions about your property value, please call (719) 655-2521 or email ppeterson@saguachecounty-co.gov

39-5-121. Notice of Valuation - Legislative Declaration (1) (a) (I): no later than May 1 in each year, the assessor shall mail to each person who owns land or improvements a notice setting forth the valuation of such land or improvements.

Most property in Colorado is revalued every odd-numbered year, § 39-1-104(10.2)(a), Colorado Revised Statute (C.R.S.).

Your property was valued as it existed on January 1 of the current year. The value of the residential property is based on the market approach to value. Generally, the value of all other property is based on consideration of the market, cost, and income approaches to value. The appraisal data used to establish value is from the 18-month period ending June 30, 2022, § 39-1-104(10.2)(a), C.R.S. If insufficient data existed during the 18-month data-gathering period, data from each preceding six-month period (up to a period of five years preceding June 30, 2022) may be utilized, § 39-1-104(10.2)(d), Colorado Revised Statutes (C.R.S). The Assessor’s Office utilized 24 months of sales for Vacant and Residential properties.  For Commercial properties 5 years of sales data was utilized.

Most property in Colorado is revalued every odd-numbered year, § 39-1-104(10.2)(a), C.R.S.

If you have found a discrepancy in the Assessor's records, please let our office know. Correct and complete assessment records are the first step in assuring that the value placed on your property is correct. While an informal review is not necessary to appeal your property value, it can be beneficial in avoiding an appeal.

Should you wish to speak directly with a member of the Assessor's appraisal staff regarding your value, please feel free to phone our office at 719-655-2521. Please keep in mind that this office experiences heavy call volume during the appeals process. This can result in longer wait times so we appreciate your patience. I can assure you that we will make every attempt to answer all calls timely, each call we receive is given as much time as necessary to answer all questions.

Notice of Valuation
After reviewing your inventory, comparing like-properties and reviewing sales, you still feel that your property value is incorrect, an appeal may be in order. Please file your appeal in writing, the back of your Notice of Valuation (NOV) is the official Appeal Form. Please be as clear as possible in stating the reasons you feel your property value or classification is incorrect.

Important
All supporting documentation must be sent in at the time you file your appeal!

• Colorado Statue directs All Colorado County Assessors to conduct revaluations in every odd numbered year.
• Colorado law directs all 64 County Assessors to analyze sales data and adjust all qualified sales to the market conditions that existed on what is commonly referred to as the "Appraisal Date." The appraisal date for this reassessment is June 30, 2022.
• For 2023 the Saguache Assessor's office along with all Colorado Assessor's start from scratch and build new value estimates using qualified transactions that have occurred prior to June 30th• 2022. Sale transactions or real estate market influences after June 30th• 2022 cannot be considered in this process.
• Time adjusted sale price refers to a sale price that has been adjusted for changes in market conditions that have occurred in a given real estate market over time. Colorado Law requires Assessors to analyze sales data and "Adjust all qualified sales to the market conditions that existed on what is commonly referred to as the appraisal date.'' The appraisal date for this reassessment is June 30, 2022. The Colorado Statute which specifies this is§ 39-1-104{10.2)(a}. Colorado law is further interpreted by a 2011 Colorado Court of Appeals case Kidder v. Chaffee County in which the court ruled that "Adjustment for time under subsections {10.2)(a} and {10.2)(d} is not discretionary, but mandatory.''

• Assessment Jurisdictions have been dealing with the problem of valuing massive quantities of properties in a short time period for years.
• They began the innovation of valuation as communities grew and the number of properties to assess increased.
• Mass appraisal is the systematic appraisal of groups of properties as of a given date using standardized procedures and statistical testing.
• Mass appraisal requires the development of a valuation model capable of replicating the forces of supply and demand.
• In mass appraisal statistical methods are used in analyzing the accuracy and consistency of values produced by the model.
• Mass Appraisal solves the problem of valuing massive quantities of properties in a short time period.
   

The information contained herein is believed to be accurate and dependable. However, no warrantees implied or expressed exist regarding the veracity of the data. Indicated taxable values are for assessment purposes only and may or may not reflect the estimate of current market value by this office. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding the use of this application.

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