Record number of Pueblo County property owners protest assessed valuations

Hoping to avoid a huge increase in property tax bills next year, a record number of Pueblo County property owners have filed protests on assessed valuations by the July 15 deadline. It's a trend that is hitting assessor's offices statewide.

"This year broke records for everybody," said Frank Beltran, Pueblo County assessor. "In Pueblo County, we had 5,002 protests and we normally have 900 to 1,100, somewhere in there."

Even though it was a 455% increase in protests, Beltran said he "thought it would be worse."

"Our appraisers do the work all the way from start to finish — we don't have an appeals department like larger counties do," he explained. "They have handled the hearings all last week and all this week in two different locations."

Property owners who are not satisfied with how their protest hearings went can go on to file a protest with the Pueblo County Board of Equalization. That appeal is heard before one of two attorneys who are serving as independent referees, Beltran explained.

The Pueblo County Board of Equalization is handling 300 protests this year when "normally we will have 35 to 40 in a busy year," Beltran said. "It could be worse."

Some of the protests are filed by companies that own more than one property. For example, one company owns 930 properties and all of them are being protested.

Those companies often hire a tax representation company to protest on their behalf, Beltran explained.

Larger counties are fielding bigger numbers: Douglas County received 37,000 protests and Eagle County is dealing with 7,000 equalization board appeals. Even though county assessors are experiencing record numbers, the process has to be wrapped up by the Aug. 5 deadline.

Here's why Pueblo County is impacted

Pueblo County's total property value increased by $5.4 billion this year over last, or about 31%, Beltran said.

Those hefty increases in valuations were based on real estate sales between Jan. 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022, as required by state statute.

"In 2021 and the first half of 2022, it was a very unique and different time as far as real estate sales. People were setting high market prices and there were bidding wars," Beltran explained.

What will that mean for next year's property tax bill?

It's still too early to tell the exact impact of the increased valuations, as mill levies won't be set by taxing entities in Pueblo County until the end of the year. However, there is some encouraging news.

Thanks to a new state law, the residential assessment rate will drop from 6.95% to 6.75% and the commercial assessment rate will drop from 29% to 27.9%. The law also allows residential homeowners a $15,000 credit off the value of their homes, commercial buildings will get a $30,000 credit and multiuse buildings that are both commercial and residential will get a $45,000 credit.

That reduced amount is what the county treasurer will use as a basis for next year's tax bill.

Another unknown factor is Proposition HH, which is a proposed statewide ballot measure that would lower property tax rates for the next 10 years. The credit for property tax assessments would also go up to $50,000 for residential properties before they’re taxed, instead of the current $15,000 reduction.

For now, that proposition is in limbo because the Colorado Supreme Court is gauging its legality after it was challenged by several counties and the nonprofit group Advance Colorado. The state supreme court is expected to rule soon as to whether the measure can be on the November ballot.

Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at tharmon@chieftain.com or via Twitter at twitter.com/tracywumps. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.

More property tax news: Here's how a Colorado proposition on property taxes and TABOR refunds could impact Pueblo

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo County property owners file record number of tax protests