“What is the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector? The taxidermist takes only your skin.” — Mark Twain.
Earlier this month Colorado property tax assessments have been mailed out – many homeowners have received a great shock when they read their “Real Property Notice of Valuation” letters. Do you think your home has been over-valuated?
Here are a few facts:
In El Paso County, Residential Property Values have gone up drastically in the two years from the last assessment up to June 30, 2022. The assessor’s office put out numbers that homes have had value changes between 35% and 56% throughout neighborhoods in and around Colorado Springs (see attached pictured chart). The last assessment was for June 30, 2020, which was around the time real estate value started their incredible 2-year value climb.
This means, if you own a home that was valued $300,000 in June 2020, it would now be valued between $405,000 and $468,000. If you owned a home valued at $600,000 in 2020, it could now be assessed at 810,000 – $936,000.
What can you do about your assessment?
If you believe your home has been valuated incorrectly, you can file an appeal between May 1 and June 8, 2023. Instructions on how to file an appeal are on the back of the Real Property Notice of Valuation letter and available on the El Paso County Assessor’s website https://assessor.elpasoco.com/.
To start the appeal process, you do not have to submit any information showing the assessor’s valuation is wrong, but it is helpful to provide information of home sales that are comparable to your home. Those salles must have sold on or before June 30, 2022. It can be important to provide an appraisal report for your home to validate your appeal case.
I can help you substantiate your appeal. If you would like to have a list with 3-5 comparable sales that sold just before and up to the assessor’s effective date, June 30, 2022, or if you would like to have a complete appraisal for your home, which includes said comparable sales and an opinion of value for your home, please contact me! Prices for my services vary depending on the location, size of the home and other factors that determine the complexity of a comparable sales search or a full appraisal report.
If you would like to receive a quote, please use the following link: https://whappraisals.com/home/fee-quote/
This is a link to an article written by the Denver post and published through the El Paso County Assessor: https://assets-assessor.elpasoco.com/wp-content/uploads/Denver-Post-Colorado-property-tax-increases_-Home-values-see-unprecedented-gains.pdf.
Another article in the CS Indy addressing the state of Colorado’s property value increases is accessible here: https://www.csindy.com/news/el-paso-county-property-values-skyrocket/article_5189837e-e45e-11ed-8885-f30a6018163f.html#tncms-source=article-nav-prev.
