Curious About the Property Tax Process?
Many Gunnison County property owners are asking for information about the property assessment and taxation process: Will the increased market value of their properties be sustained in the 2009 reappraisal? And, what the impact will be on their property taxes in the coming years? The property tax process begins with the County Assessor and ends with the various taxing entities that provide services to the citizens of Gunnison County. While your property assessment and your property taxes are linked, they are very different processes.
The responsibility of the Gunnison County Assessor’s Office is to determine an equitable market value on Gunnison County properties (every odd-numbered year in a process known as the “reappraisal”), while being fair - and respectful of the people who own these properties. For the coming 2009 tax year, most values will be based on sales data in the 24 months prior to June 30, 2008.
While the sales volume in Gunnison County has significantly slowed since the 2007 reappraisal (which utilized sales from the 24 months ending 6/30/06), property values have held steady in most areas. There are some areas that saw a decline, and there are some which saw an increase, but generally speaking, property values in Gunnison County have held steady in the past two years. This is good news for your real estate investment in Gunnison County, compared to other significantly declining real estate markets across the nation. The going concern, of course, is what affect the value has on your property taxes.
Each year, county commissioners, city and town councils, school board members and special district board of directors (collectively known as “taxing authorities” or “taxing entities”) hold public budget meetings to determine the dollars needed for their upcoming year’s operations. These taxing entities finance their operating budget, in part or in total, with property taxes. Each of these taxing entities has a geographic area that they provide services to, and all property owners in that geographic area contribute a portion of their property taxes for those services. Taxing entities are allowed to collect property taxes by setting a mill levy that runs against the total property value for their geographic area.
The process starts with the Assessor, who reports the total assessed value to the state and to each taxing entity on August 25th of each year. Soon after this date (usually September November) each taxing entity will hold their annual budget meeting to determine the mill levy needed for their budget.
The mill levy, or rate of taxation, is set by each taxing entity and is listed on your property tax bill. You can also look up the taxing entities that affect your property on the Assessor’s online property record search. Each taxing entity determines the revenue needed to operate in the coming fiscal year. The required revenue is then divided by the total assessed value to determine the mill levy for the entity.
For example:
- Blazing Saddles Fire District needs $3,750,000 for its annual operating budget.
- The Assessor has determined that the collective property value within Blazing Saddle’s geographic area is $100,000,000.
- $3,750,000 ÷ $100,000,000 = 3.75% or 37.5 mills
- Blazing Saddles Fire District will set their mill levy at 37.5. Property owners within this fire district’s geographic area will pay 3.75% of their assessed value to Blazing Saddles for fire protection through their property tax bill.
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Property owner responsibility
It is your responsibility, as a property owner and property tax payer, to contact the taxing entity or attend the annual budget meetings if you have any questions or concerns about how your tax dollars are spent. It is important to understand what it takes to operate the taxing entity’s operations, and what the challenges are current and future that it faces. There are often many issues that affect the budget, which aren’t readily apparent, such as federal or state mandates on services, standards and personnel qualifications. Then there are other issues that are more obvious such as rising fuel costs, a heavy snow year, aging infrastructure or expanded school enrollment. Become informed about the services provided in your area.
Don’t wait until after you receive your tax bill to question the tax rate. If you are interested in being involved, it’s important that you participate in the taxing entity’s budget process this fall. The budget hearing dates are published in the paper, and you can also contact the organization directly. Contact information is listed below, and is also on the Assessor’s website.
Tabor and Gallagher Amendments
The Tabor (Tax Payer’s Bill of Rights) Amendment controls the amount of revenue that local governments and taxing entities can collect and spend. However, if an entity has “debruced,” some or all of the restrictions placed on the amount of revenue they can collect and spend imposed by the Tabor amendment have been lifted. Additionally, Colorado State statute sets a 5.5% limit on the annual percentage increase that taxing entities can increase their revenues. Some taxing entities have had this revenue restriction removed by the voters. You can get this information directly from each taxing authority or from the Department of Local Affairs, State of Colorado, at (303) 866-2156.
The reason vacant land and commercial property is assessed at 29%, and residential homes at 7.96%, is because of the Gallagher Amendment. This amendment to the Colorado Constitution, approved by the voters in 1982, limits the residential share of property taxes. The State Legislature adjusts the residential assessment rate each reappraisal year, although it has remained at its current 7.96% level for 6 years.
Contact the Gunnison County Assessor’s Office for more information, or if you have any questions:
Gunnison County Taxing Authorities Contact Information
Gunnison County Board of County Commissioners Hap Channell, Chair Gunnison County Courthouse 200 E. Virginia Gunnison, CO 81230 (970) 641-0248 |
Colorado River Water District Rob Streit, Senior Accountant PO Box 1120 201 Centennial St., Suite 200 Glenwood Springs, CO 81602 (970) 945-8522 |
Delta School District – 50J Mike McMillan, Superintendent 7655-2075 Road Delta, CO 81416 (970) 874-4438 |
Montrose School District – RE1J-M Karin Slater, CFO 126 South 5th Street PO Box 10,000 Montrose, CO 81402-9701 |
Town of Crested Butte Lois Rozman, Finance Director PO Box 39 Crested Butte, CO 81224 (970) 349-5338 |
City of Gunnison Wendy Hanson, Finance Director PO Box 239 Gunnison, CO 81230 (970) 641-8162 |
Town of Marble Karen Mulhall, Clerk PO Box 802 Carbondale, CO 81623 (970) 384-0761 |
Town of Pitkin Nancy Deutsch, Clerk/Treasurer PO Box 9 Pitkin, CO 81241 (970) 275-1970 |
Town of Mt. Crested Butte Carl Trujillo, Finance Director PO Box 5800 Mt. Crested Butte, CO 81225 (970) 349-6632 |
Gunnison School District – RE1J Jon Nelson, Superintendent 800 North Boulevard Gunnison, CO 81230 (970) 641-7770 |
Bostwick Park Water District Gordon Autry, Chairman 400 South 3rd St. Montrose, CO 81401 (970) 249-8707 |
Carbondale Fire Protection District Ron Leach, Secretary/Treasurer 300 Meadowood Dr. Carbondale, CO 81623 (970) 963-2491 |
Crawford Water District Barbie Dickinson, Bookkeeper 183 Highway 92 Crawford, CO 81415-9123 (970) 921-4889, (970) 921-4775 |
Crested Butte Fire Protection District Michael Miller, District Manager PO Box 1009 Crested Butte, CO 81224 (970) 349-5333, ext. 1 |
Crested Butte South Metropolitan District John Dietrich, District Manager PO Box 1129 Crested Butte, CO 81224 (970) 349-5480 |
Mt. Crested Butte Water & Sanitation District Frank Glick, District Manager PO Box 5740 Mt. Crested Butte, CO 81225 (970) 349-7575 |
East River Regional Sanitation District Mike Billingsley, District Manager 350 Country Club Dr., Suite 112A Crested Butte, CO 81224 (970) 349-7411 |
Gunnison County Fire Protection District Stephen Williams, Chairman PO Box 929 Gunnison, CO 81230 (970) 641-2171 |
Gunnison Cemetery District Rita McDermott, Admin. Assistant 41001 East Highway 50 PO Box 7079 Gunnison, CO 81230 (970) 642-1152 |
Gunnison County Metropolitan Recreation District Lori Patin, Budget Officer PO Box 1369 Gunnison, CO 81230 (970) 641-8725 |
North Fork Water District Jean Hampton, Secretary & Treasurer PO Box 217 Hotchkiss, CO 81419 (970) 872-2155 |
Ragged Mountain Fire District Larry Beckner, Attorney PO Box 570 Somerset, CO 81434 (970) 245-4300, (970) 929-6575 |
Reserve Metropolitan District #2 Eric Weaver, District Accountant 28 Second St., Suite 213 Edwards, CO 81632 (970) 926-6060, ext. 6 |
Skyland Metropolitan District Mike Billingsley, District Manager 350 Country Club Dr., Suite 112A Crested Butte, CO 81224 (970) 349-7411 |
Upper Gunnison Water District Frank Kugel, General Manager PO Box 1330 Gunnison, CO 81230 (970) 641-6065 |
Arrowhead Fire Protection District C/O Robert J. Rosenbaum 2069 Spruce Rd. Cimarron, CO 81220 Ph: 970 862-8241 |
Office Staff
General Information and Questions:
Phone: (970) 641-1085
Email: assessor@gunnisoncounty.org
Staff:
Assessor
Kristy McFarland
Deputy Assessor
Vicki Hildreth
Senior Appraiser/Analyst
George Lickiss
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Assessing Coordinator
William Spicer
Personal Property Technician
Leanne Lee
Property Transfer Technician
Jennifer Wren Bannock
Cara Scannell
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Real Property Appraisers
Bob Blackett
Mary Mast
Darrah Miller
Don Rundell |
Office Hours
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Monday through Friday (except holidays)
Contact Information
Assessor's Office
221 N. Wisconsin Street, Ste. A
Gunnison, CO 81230 |
Phone: (970) 641-1085
(voicemail is available 24 hours/day)
Fax: (970) 641-7920
Email the Assessor's Office |
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