County commissioners' town hall addresses property values

The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) held an in-person town hall on May 18 at the La Vita Bella restaurant on Main Street in Longmont. All three commissioners, Claire Levy, Marta Loachamin and Ashley Stolzmann, attended along with Boulder County Assessor Cynthia Braddock.

The primary focus of the event were questions and answers about the assessor's property valuations. Other county issues raised by members of the public included rural subdivision paving policy.

After introductory comments from the three commissioners, assessor Braddock provided the audience with a review of the assessment process, the assessment appeal process and exemption programs for seniors and military veterans.

Median property valuations have increased in Boulder County by 35%. Commissioner Stolzmann pointed out that the valuation increase does not translate into the same increase in taxes. Local governments have a statutory limit of 5.5% per year increase in the property taxes they collect. The county's portion of property taxes is about 26%. School districts receive 54% of property taxes. The remainder goes to cities, towns and special districts. Nearly every school district has obtained voter approval to waive Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) limits on property taxes they receive.

The assessor's website explains how property taxes are determined. Property valuation is only part of the equation. The other important part is the amount of the mill levy, which is determined by the budget request of each entity receiving property taxes. In principle, property taxes are determined by the spending needs of each entity, not solely from property valuation. It was pointed out during the town hall that there are also legislative actions which could affect property taxes in the coming years.

Stolzmann remarked during questions and answers that citizens should monitor how other entities will engage with the public during their budget planning processes. Braddock said that the certified valuation of properties is sent in late August to entities that receive property taxes so that is when they start to build their budgets.

"We certify value in December, December 10, and that's when they are finalizing budgets and deliver mill levies by December 15," Braddock said. August to December is the timeframe for when mill levies are determined from budget planning.

Marc Arnold expressed appreciation for the commissioners' work and raised the issue of road maintenance. "I cannot begin to tell you how much ill will has been generated by the [history of] the county's failure to maintain your roads through our communities," Arnold said. Commissioner Levy responded, "...There was a decision made in 1995 to no longer maintain those roads. Had the county put a mechanism in place at the time to help residents, to help property owners, pay for that, it would have probably been affordable. At this point we recognize that it is not affordable for property owners to take that burden on. We are committed to finding a solution to this."

Michelle Boyd from Gunbarrel spoke to the issue of road maintenance. "It's been 20 years that I've been working on the roads issue," she said. "I've never seen from any commissioner a resolution to this problem. How can we live in a county where every street has million dollar valuation properties and our roads look like a third-world country?" Boyd asked.

Her comments received applause from the audience. Commissioner Loachamin responded that they are working on it and meeting with citizens and groups. "So we are working on it right now and we are looking at ballot measures and that group, through community, has opted based on the polling that we did last spring, to move that conversation to 2024," Loachamin said.

A survivor of the Marshall Fire who lost their home asked about why their property valuations have gone up so much. Braddock explained that on January 1 of this year their properties had been evaluated and declared remediated and were consequently assessed at the rate of buildable property. In 2022 they were assessed at 50% of their value because the land was declared as severely damaged by soil pollution and other factors.

Assessor Braddock was asked how many valuation challenges are successful, and she responded that about 40% receive an adjustment. Erin Meschke of Boulder asked, "I don't understand why it is the job of the citizen to form an appeal for something that should be done accurately." Meschke continued, "I don't want to make it seem like I don't think your job is hard because I feel like you have an incredibly difficult job, but at the same time I shouldn't have to do part of that job."

Braddock responded that the assessment is based upon publicly available information and the property owner can provide more detailed information through the appeal process.

Commissioner Levy closed the town hall thanking everyone for attending and for their questions.