LovelandPolitics
| Loveland's Independent News Source |
Loveland, April 23, 2015
Larimer County Assessor Steve Miller has notified the local media that property taxes
will be increasing. He is also providing information regarding the protest process
available to citizens who want to protest their new and higher assessement. Below is the
Larimer County Assessor's notice to the media;
The market value of real property in Larimer County increased substantially in the last few
years. That news has been in the papers, on TV, and soon it will be in the mailboxes of all
property owners when the 2015 notices of valuation (NOVs) arrive on or about the first of
May. It’s good news when investment values increase, especially on big investments, and
especially since our real estate markets had been in the doldrums since 2006. The markets
have performed like champs since the latter half of 2012. In fact, the recent increases in
value match and in some areas surpass the increases we saw in the mid-1990s.
This good news about strong market values is lessened somewhat when the assessor’s
office talks about it because higher property taxes are involved. That’s true here. The first
to benefit directly from the growth in real property values are not the property owners but,
instead, are the school districts, cities and towns, the county, and all the other taxing
authorities that levy and spend property tax dollars to help maintain our quality of life. The
increases in property values in this 2015 countywide reappraisal will determine the
amount of property taxes paid in 2016 and 2017. It is not known yet if all taxing authorities
will take and spend all of the increases in property taxes when the 2015 reappraisal
valuations transition to the 2015 tax roll. Those discussions and debates will happen later
this year.
The reasons for the increases in property values in this reappraisal are varied: low interest
rates on mortgages, low inventories in new and existing homes, and the fact that Colorado,
particularly the front range, has a strong economy and is considered among the very best
places to live. Our real estate markets are among the strongest of all places in the USA not
close to a beach.
The question now is how well the assessor’s office did in measuring the increases in
property values in the different areas of the county, and then calculating realistic values on
the 150,000 properties for which NOVs are mailed out this year.
The annual protest period is the time for property owners to question the value the
assessor put on a property, if a question exists. The 2015 protest period runs from May 1st
through June 1st. Protests can be filed by mail (postmarked by June 1st), by visiting the
assessor’s office at 200 West Oak Street, Suite 2000, in Fort Collins during office hours (7:
30AM to 4:30PM, Monday through Friday), by fax, or by filing a protest online. Protests
cannot be made via email or by telephone.
The best way to file a protest is online. The assessor’s office website is www.larimer.
org/assessor. A discrete account number and an access code are printed on each hardcopy
postcard NOV. Both are necessary to file an online protest. More information on the protest
process and the sales data available for property owners is available on the general
assessor website and in the restricted protest module. Use these tools to see how well the
assessor’s office did in calculating a new value for your property.
Larimer County Assessor Steve Miller has notified the local media that property taxes
will be increasing. He is also providing information regarding the protest process
available to citizens who want to protest their new and higher assessement. Below is the
Larimer County Assessor's notice to the media;
The market value of real property in Larimer County increased substantially in the last few
years. That news has been in the papers, on TV, and soon it will be in the mailboxes of all
property owners when the 2015 notices of valuation (NOVs) arrive on or about the first of
May. It’s good news when investment values increase, especially on big investments, and
especially since our real estate markets had been in the doldrums since 2006. The markets
have performed like champs since the latter half of 2012. In fact, the recent increases in
value match and in some areas surpass the increases we saw in the mid-1990s.
This good news about strong market values is lessened somewhat when the assessor’s
office talks about it because higher property taxes are involved. That’s true here. The first
to benefit directly from the growth in real property values are not the property owners but,
instead, are the school districts, cities and towns, the county, and all the other taxing
authorities that levy and spend property tax dollars to help maintain our quality of life. The
increases in property values in this 2015 countywide reappraisal will determine the
amount of property taxes paid in 2016 and 2017. It is not known yet if all taxing authorities
will take and spend all of the increases in property taxes when the 2015 reappraisal
valuations transition to the 2015 tax roll. Those discussions and debates will happen later
this year.
The reasons for the increases in property values in this reappraisal are varied: low interest
rates on mortgages, low inventories in new and existing homes, and the fact that Colorado,
particularly the front range, has a strong economy and is considered among the very best
places to live. Our real estate markets are among the strongest of all places in the USA not
close to a beach.
The question now is how well the assessor’s office did in measuring the increases in
property values in the different areas of the county, and then calculating realistic values on
the 150,000 properties for which NOVs are mailed out this year.
The annual protest period is the time for property owners to question the value the
assessor put on a property, if a question exists. The 2015 protest period runs from May 1st
through June 1st. Protests can be filed by mail (postmarked by June 1st), by visiting the
assessor’s office at 200 West Oak Street, Suite 2000, in Fort Collins during office hours (7:
30AM to 4:30PM, Monday through Friday), by fax, or by filing a protest online. Protests
cannot be made via email or by telephone.
The best way to file a protest is online. The assessor’s office website is www.larimer.
org/assessor. A discrete account number and an access code are printed on each hardcopy
postcard NOV. Both are necessary to file an online protest. More information on the protest
process and the sales data available for property owners is available on the general
assessor website and in the restricted protest module. Use these tools to see how well the
assessor’s office did in calculating a new value for your property.
| Property Tax Increase Notices to Hit May 1st |
| Larimer County Assessor Steve Miller |