On June 30, 2022, residential property in our County had increased in value an average of 47% over the previous assessment. This means that your property tax that accrued in 2023 and is payable this year is likely substantially higher than last year, largely due to market appreciation and the voter approved repeal of the Gallagher Amendment that had protected residential property from large tax increases.
Last year and this year the Colorado State Legislature majority killed, in committee, any bills that would have provided significant tax relief to Colorado property owners. Douglas County Assessor Toby Damisch found he could reduce Douglas County real property assessments by 4% and still remain compliant with statute, an action that was approved by our BOCC, but the State objected and increased our assessments back to the previous amounts. Douglas County is suing to correct this injustice, but that doesn’t help us this year.
Our County Commissioners have stepped up and created a property tax reduction of 3.679 mills, called a property tax Reserve Fund, that will be rebated to our property taxpayers after their property tax due in 2024 is paid. A mill is equal to $1 per $1,000 of final assessed value.
Due to difficulties caused by the Legislature’s Special Session changes, any Business Personal Property Tax exemptions will be included when the checks for the Tax Reserve Fund are mailed.
Your property tax is billed and collected by the County Treasurer’s Office who then distributes it to the taxing authorities that serve your property. There are over 300 taxing authorities in our County that have certified a mill levy to the County. Each of these entities receive a share of your tax dollars depending on where your property is located. The County Government has no control over how much these entities tax you, we just collect and distribute the taxes.
To see a breakout of which ones you support with your property tax dollar (and compare with other areas and communities if you wish) go to www.yourdougcotaxes.com. Generally, the largest portion of your tax bill goes to the Douglas County School District (often about 50%).
