County's Property Value Assessment - How to win a dispute?

We successfully disputed the tax valuation on a property in Summit County a few years back. Went to a hearing in front of the county board. The Assessor had his ducks in a row. The board gave us a a "token" adjustment (30K) on value. We did present some evidence that the comps weren't necessarily comparable. After it was all over, the assessor pulled us aside and explained that with the TABOR laws in Colorado, it didn't really matter. He said if the county increased the valuations to the point they would collect excess of TABOR allowances, they would have to drop the mil levy rates so they didn't collect too much tax.

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Originally Posted by 20X11

We successfully disputed the tax valuation on a property in Summit County a few years back. Went to a hearing in front of the county board. The Assessor had his ducks in a row. The board gave us a a "token" adjustment (30K) on value. We did present some evidence that the comps weren't necessarily comparable. After it was all over, the assessor pulled us aside and explained that with the TABOR laws in Colorado, it didn't really matter. He said if the county increased the valuations to the point they would collect excess of TABOR allowances, they would have to drop the mil levy rates so they didn't collect too much tax.

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Glad you got a drop.
The assessor's story, I call bs. The assessor was trying to discourage word-of-mouth spread of info that valuations could be lowered.
Just my opinion though.

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Originally Posted by mtnrider

Mine went up as well. About $110,000.

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Put me down for about the same. I was astonished.

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Originally Posted by def90

It's a tax hike they can get away with because most people get huffy about it but in the end just go with the flow.
I rent so I've never had to fight something like this.

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It is a lot more an extremely uphill battle to fight vs. go with the flow. You'll likely spend more fighting it than the tax and the burden of proof is obviously all on you. Or so reads the documentation and so says a friend of mine who does tax assessment for the city.

Luckily, they don't look inside. While your assessment may go up, it'd go up even more if they came in and saw your remodeled bathroom, finished basement, that sort of thing, etc.

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Originally Posted by Roger Ronas

I successfully protested my assessment a few years ago.
I had put a new roof on and because of the permit, they raised value by about 10%.
I disputed and provided compatible home values and recent sales to show that they were crazy.
I also commented that a new roof was not an increase in valuation, I was bringing the home up to past condition.
Here is the county website to search your property and find compatibles.

http://land.elpasoco.com/


HTH
Roger

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I did mine a few years ago and won. I did not do anything crazy but it paid off since the other homes in the hood are valued at more so when the downturn happened 08-09 I was ahead of the game. The only raised mine 8% but I need to look at the comps in my area.

I will add that my notice put me at about +53%.

I understand that the market is up, but Arapahoe County evals are based on a 6/30/2014 sale date, using data as far back as 7/1/2012.
What does next year hold in store, with current market conditions.

Mine went up about 20%. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing at this point.

I don't believe my house has gained 1/3 of it's previous value. And that's based on June 2012 to June 2014, can't wait till 2015, probably double again. And look, I live in Aurora.

We should be thankful. With the extra money the earned, I'm sure they will do their best to get maximum value out of every dollar. The roads are going to be smoother, the schools smarter, and the streets safer. I for one wish I could give more.

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Originally Posted by ben4372

We should be thankful. With the extra money the earned, I'm sure they will do their best to get maximum value out of every dollar. The roads are going to be smoother, the schools smarter, and the streets safer. I for one wish I could give more.

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Be careful what you wish for!