> 2017

November, 2017

As houses along the Front Range sore in value, setting off statewide property tax cuts, it’s the folks who live in the rural areas that are feeling the pinch. The rising home values are bringing urban homeowners some much needed economic relief in the form of $450 million property tax cuts in 2018. With a general decrease in property taxes in the smaller, rural communities, it’s forcing small rural government agencies to tighten their belts.

“We’re trying to sit on as much as we can,” said Grand County Fire Chief Ron Thompson, but if revenues don’t start to grow, the reserves will eventually run out.1

How Rising Housing Prices Ultimately Hurt Rural Areas

How Rising Home Values May Snuff Out Small Town Fire Depts | Denver Property Tax Appeal Attorney

How Rising Home Values May Snuff Out Small Town Fire Depts | Denver Property Tax Appeal Attorney

Economic forces are already struggling factors in rural Colorado, for instance:

  • People earn lower wages in rural areas, especially if they work for rural government agencies.
  • Turnover at rural government agencies is high.
  • Volunteerisms for services like rural fire departments is down.
  • Equipment and operations costs are up for emergency services.
  • Rural cities tend to invest in younger workers, like firefighters, who tend to leave for higher-paying jobs in the bigger cities.
  • Unfortunately, rural areas don’t recover as fast as urban areas after recessions either.
  • Rural cities in Colorado can least afford to see their tax surplus or revenue shrink.
  • The worst scenario being watched is if the housing boom continues to the point that the property tax assessment rate goes down even further, which could burst the bubble, causing home values and tax revenues to tank.

How to Appeal Your Property Taxes

Typically, when home prices shrink, homeowners should hope for lowered property taxes. But, there’s times when you may still feel as though you are paying too much for property tax. If so, here a list of steps to take:

  • Find a reputable and trustworthy Denver property tax appeal attorney to help you appeal your home’s property value assessment.
  • A knowledgeable Denver property tax appeal attorney can help individuals navigate the complex network of legal processes and steps to take.
  • A professional property tax attorney can assist you in filling out legal forms and gathering the necessary paperwork for the local tax assessor.
  • Even your appeal gets denied, a property tax attorney has the ability to help you appeal the process further by requesting an in-person hearing.

Contact a Denver Property Tax Appeal Attorney Lawyer at Downey & Associates, PC

If you feel your home has been erroneously assessed in value and you’d like to appeal your county’s property valuation assessment, contact the Denver Property Tax Appeal Attorney at Downey & Associates, PC. Our team has more than 30 years of experience in property tax law. In the event, you missed the deadline for filing a protest, you may still be able to file abatement. Call us today at 303-813-1111, or fill out the contact form on this page.

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1“As the Front Range Grows, Rural Colorado Gets Less: How Rising Home Values in Denver are Crippling Small Fire Departments” published in the Denver Post, Nov. 2017.

A little-known tax provision in the state constitution, known as the Gallagher Amendment, is responsible for giving homeowners a much-needed tax break as home values skyrocket. Every odd numbered year, Colorado counties assess property values across the state to come up with a new “market value,” otherwise known as the “actual value” that also remains in effect in the even numbered year as well. These market values for properties are published on May 1st. Residential property owners can appeal these new assessments, but the deadline to do so is June 1st. So, you may have to wait several more months to appeal the assessed property value, if you didn’t act on it this year.

The Gallagher Amendment Explained

How the Gallagher Amendment Affects Denver Property Taxes | Denver Property Tax Appeal Attorney

How the Gallagher Amendment Affects Denver Property Taxes | Denver Property Tax Appeal Attorney

It’s important to explain the Gallagher Amendment to the Colorado Constitution, which was enacted in 1982, because it impacts the determination of the actual value of property and the valuation for assessment of any property. In Colorado, the commercial property assessment ratio is fixed at 29 percent. In 1982, voters also determined that commercial property owners should pay 55 percent of all property tax revenues collected, while the remaining 45 percent should be paid by residential property owners. The assessment ratio for residential property had been 7.96 percent, but in order to deal with fluctuating real estate prices, the state performs its study to determine if the residential assessment ratio should be altered to offset any increase or decrease in property values. This year the residential assessment ratio is being lowered to 7.2 percent to account for the rise in residential values relative to commercial property values. The explosive housing market growth along the Front Range is said to be responsible for pushing home values so high.

How the Gallagher Amendment Has Impacted Property Taxes in Colorado

  • It has helped make the county assessor’s methodology for determining the actual value of a property easier. Before the amendment was added to the state constitution, the assessor had to factor in several variables, whereas now they just use three: cost, market, and income.
  • It made it so the actual value of the residential property would be factored by the cost and market approaches to appraisal only.
  • It declared certain property exempt from taxation, including household furnishings, personal effects not used in procuring income, business inventory, livestock, and agricultural equipment.

Contact a Denver Property Tax Appeal Attorney at Downey & Associates, PC

If you would like to appeal your personal property tax assessment, contact our Denver Property Tax Appeal Attorney at Downey & Associates PC. From our law offices in Englewood, we serve clients throughout Colorado, including the Greater Denver area, Colorado Springs and Fort Collins, and the mountain and rural counties as well. We can help you in all stages of a personal property tax protest and appeal process. Call us today at 303-813-1111 or send us an e-mail by clicking on the “Contact Us” tab on this page.

How Rising Home Values May Snuff Out Small Town Fire Depts

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October 12, 2017

A little-known tax provision in the state constitution, known as the Gallagher Amendment, is responsible ... Read more