Contact: Frank Celico, Summit County Assessor: 970-453-3480

SUMMIT COUNTY - All Summit County property owners were mailed a Notice of Valuation (NOV) on May 2. A longform version of the NOV and other helpful information, including videos explaining the NOV, and how to file an appeal are available on the Summit County Assessor’s website.

“The goal of the Assessor’s Office in the NOV process is to value all property fairly and accurately for taxation purposes,” said Summit County Assessor, Frank Celico. “We encourage individuals to review their NOV and the information specific to their property on our website and to reach out with any questions or changes.”

The most common question we receive is “How are my property taxes calculated?” added Celico.

The 2022 NOVs include an estimate of taxes payable in 2023. This estimate is determined through the following formula:  

2022 Actual Value X Assessment Rate X 2021 Mill Levy = Estimated Tax Bill Payable in 2023

The individual parts of this equation are all determined and overseen by different parts of government. The Assessor’s Office analyzes market sales from the statutorily defined time period to determine the Actual Value of residential properties. The assessment rates, since the repeal of the Constitutional “Gallagher Amendment” in 2020, are determined by the Colorado legislature, and depend on the property type. The mill levy rate is not official until December of the tax year, when the taxing entities certify their mill levy to the Board of County Commissioners and Treasurer’s Office.

In 2022, the legislature approved different assessment rates for different property types: “Multi-Family Residential,” “Commercial - Renewable Energy” and most “Agricultural” properties. Prior to that in 2021, and since 1982, there were only assessment rates for two property types: “Residential,” and “All Other.”  

“Multi-Family Residential” properties are single parcels containing multiple dwelling units, typically apartment buildings occupied by long-term renters. Condominium units, as well as duplexes and triplexes split by the filing of a re-subdivision plat, are not “Multi-Family Residential” under the new law.

The tax estimate formula also uses the 2021 mill levy rate. Mill rates are tax rates set annually by Summit County’s many local taxing authorities in December and cannot be confirmed until that time. There could also be additional voter-approved debt or tax rates approved at general or special district elections that are not included. Your Tax Notice, mailed by the Treasurer’s Office each January and found on the Treasurer’s webpage, details the mill rates that apply to your property depending on its location within the county. Thus, for example a million dollar home taxed at a Summit County average rate of 60 mills would pay $4,170 in 2022 property taxes:

$1,000,000 (actual value) * 0.0695 (residential assessment rate) * 0.06 (mill rate) = $4,170.00.

Property taxation in Colorado is highly regulated by a large, complex and often changing set of laws and administrative rules, which Assessors are required to follow.  The assessment rate changes adopted by the legislature in 2021 are one example.  Other examples from 2021 include the requirements to list the applicable assessment rate on 2022 NOVs, to increase the personal property exemption amount from $7,900 to $50,000, and to apply a new definition of the concept of what is “residential land.”

The 2022 legislative session portends more significant changes to assessment rates and Assessor’s Office business practices for implementation in 2023 when Summit County will see historically high increases in property valuation for taxation. The Summit County Assessor’s Office actively monitors and participates in the legislative process, and is prepared to enact the changes that are approved in the 2022 Legislative Session.

“We understand that property taxation in Colorado can be confusing and we want to help everyone understand it,” said Celico. “With the repeal of Gallagher in 2020, the legislature has a lot more autonomy to determine how properties are assessed, and our office aims not only to comply with any new laws and but also to be transparent and share those changes with property owners.”

For further information, please visit the Summit County Assessor’s Office website: https://www.summitcountyco.gov/86/Assessor

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