House Passes Property Tax Relief

Proposal Will Save the Average Homeowner $274 on Property Taxes

The House recently unanimously passed legislation to lower property taxes, saving the average homeowner $274 and preventing many small business owners from seeing their property taxes go up at all.

“From sending every taxpayer an early $400 or $800 refund check to lowering the cost of housing, health care, and prescription drugs, we’ve been hard at work saving Coloradans money everywhere we can,” said Rep. Mike Weissman, D-Aurora. “The legislation we passed today will prevent tax increases on many small businesses. It builds on our earlier work to lower property taxes for homeowners and businesses and will save the average homeowner $274 on their property taxes.”

“I’m excited to sponsor a bill for a $700 million property tax decrease and a net overall tax decrease of $500 million,” said Rep. Patrick Neville, R-Castle Rock. “Rising property values bring a price tag of higher property taxes. I dislike taxes in general, but property taxes are the worst kind of tax. Lowering property taxes will help with the inflationary pressures families are experiencing and is much needed in Colorado.”

SB22-238, sponsored by Representatives Mike Weissman and Patrick Neville, will provide $700 million in property tax relief over two years for homeowners and businesses, helping save families money on housing and cutting costs for businesses statewide.

The bill allocates $500 million in 2023 to reduce the residential property from 6.95 percent to 6.76 percent and the non-residential property tax rate from 29 percent to 27.9 percent. The bill also reduces the taxable value for residential properties by $15,000 and commercial properties by $30,000. The bill provides these savings while mitigating the impact on schools and local governments from the reduction in revenue.

Further, SB22-238 provides an additional $200 million in 2024 to extend the property tax relief enacted last year by SB21-293. These savings will reduce property taxes for homeowners by an average of $274 in 2023 on a $500,000 home and will provide significant savings for every business in the state.

The House also unanimously passed HB22-1416, sponsored by Majority Leader Daneya Esgar and Representative Neville. The bill reforms the property tax assessment process. The bill would provide taxpayers with more information about their valuations and a longer period of time to appeal their values.

“By reforming the property tax assessment process, we’ll protect homeowners and business owners and make it easier for people to appeal valuation decisions that impact how much they have to pay,” said Majority Leader Daneya Esgar, D–Pueblo. “This bipartisan legislation will make the property tax assessment process more fair and transparent to ensure property owners can address errors that can cost them money.”

Under the bill, the timeline to appeal property values would be extended by one week. It requires county assessors to provide property owners an estimate of their tax liability as well as information about how they can protest their assessed property values.

Property owners would have the opportunity to fast-track their appeal if the assessor is provided with all the necessary information. Additionally, the bill would require property tax administrators to publish the assessors’ handbook, which includes appraisal procedures, and allow for public comment and review of the handbook and proposed changes. For commercial properties, the bill improves transparency in how they are valued by requiring the notice of valuation to notify property owners that they can obtain details from their assessor about how their property was valued.