The Gilpin County Commissioners (BoCC) convened a special meeting on Thursday, April 25, exclusively online via Microsoft Teams. The purpose was to discuss current property tax legislation, addressed by lobbyists Ed Bowditch and Jennifer Cassell.
Commissioners Susan Berumen, Marie Mornis, and Sandy Hollingsworth all attended, alongside County Manager Ray Rears, County Attorney Brad Benning, and other County staff.
State lawmakers are considering an 83-page property tax relief bill with less than two weeks left in the legislative session. This bill follows four months of hearings by a bipartisan Commission on Property Tax, tasked with crafting relief for homeowners while protecting local government services.
The proposed legislation would allow individuals to exempt 10% of their primary residence’s value from taxation, up to $75,000, potentially saving homeowners around $450 annually, depending on local mill levy rates.
Bowditch said, “This is a very fast-moving time in the Legislature. The property tax draft bill that was shared is likely not going to be the one that moves forward in its entirety.”
He described how certain provisions of the bill are panning out, including:
The “smoothing of values” means that a property’s value would be based on the most recent assessment and the two prior assessments, meaning a six-year smoothing. This provision will likely be dropped.
Schools would have to be backbilled if there is a property tax cut so schools would be decoupled from the bill.
A primary residence tax reduction could become very complex with multiple homeowners. Affidavits would have to be submitted to assessors, causing a lot more work for the County. Despite implementation issues, there is some support.
There is a desire to reduce the non-resident assessment rate over a period of years, and bring it down to about 25.25%.
County Attorney Benning expressed relief at the possibility of dropping the “smoothing” provision due to constitutional concerns.
Hollingsworth said one key point is that the proposed bill does not match what the tax commission recommended.
Berumen and Hollingsworth have attended meetings with Colorado Counties Inc. and with representatives of the tax commission. The tax commission has been in communication with many counties and has sent out surveys to gather feedback. CCI would like input from the County on six items, due the following day:
Decoupling the school pay their bonds.
The expansion of the Homestead Exemption Act because the way it is written now could actually reduce the senior exemption amount.
Whether CPI (Consumer Price Index) is the correct measure to calculate tax rates, or a hard cap per county.
Implementing a decrease to the commercial rate. Some felt this would mean an increase to the residential rate over time.
The property modernization grant program and whether there would be enough funds for everyone.
The timing of the bill and whether counties would support postponing the bill until next session. Apparently the tax commission has not gathered enough information from the special districts.
The lobbyists encouraged the commissioners to submit this information to the tax commission, and to them, as soon as possible.
Bowditch said that the tax commission can only modify property tax by reducing property assessment rates; other issues ought to be handled at a local level.
He said that with only 12 days remaining, it will be tough to fashion something that makes everyone happy.
Bowditch told the commissioners not to worry too much about the draft version; a refined version will be sent on Friday April 26. After that, Rears will schedule a separate meeting to discuss the details.
The commissioners thanked the lobbyists for their time, before ending the work session.
