05/03/2023
How to Appeal your 2022 Lyons Real Estate Taxes and Comparable Data
It's property tax season again. New assessments will be landing in mailboxes around the state in early May. Thanks to the unprecedented increase in property values during the recent housing boom and the repeal of the Gallagher Amendment, there is a perfect storm that is creating large increases in assessed property values across Colorado.
Real estate values increased dramatically since the last assessment two years ago. In Lyons, we saw a 46.81% increase in the average price of a sold home between 2020 and 2022. There was a 37.61% increase in the median price during that time (source: IRES MLS data). These historic increases will be reflected in this years tax reassessment.
Taxes in Colorado are paid in arrears. The assessments that will be received this month are for taxes in 2022. Annual assessments only occur in odd years in Colorado. And because the taxes are paid in arrears, the assessor is looking at historical data between June 2020 and June, 2022. They are not looking at what has sold in 2023. To determine the assessed value, the county typically calculates averages within a region or neighborhood and then finds nearby properties that they believe have similar features to your property. Because this is done virtually, this information can be incorrect and your property could be overvalued and you may have a good case to appeal your assessment. This year, appealing may be an uphill battle since valuations have gone up significantly across the state. But, it's still worth a try if you have the data that shows your assessment may be overvalued.
Governor Polis announced a last minute bill that would provide some relief to Coloradans tax bills by lowering the percentage amount used to calculate the assessments. Information is still coming in about this but I do not believe this would not provide immediate relief as it would need to go to a vote in November and would not help commercial or income property owners.
There are also other possible avenues to saving on your property tax bill if you are a senior citizen, disabled veteran or Goldstar spouse. Visit this website to see you qualify for an exemption.
APPEALING YOUR PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENTS:
I am not an expert nor am I an appraiser or tax professional. This post should not be construed as tax advice. All of the information below I've compiled through researching the process with the counties and from other media sources (all of which has been provided in links on this post). Each homeowner should do their own research and potentially seek expert guidance to determine the best strategy for their own unique situation. I am just trying to provide comparable data to make the research process easier on our Lyons neighbors.
1. APPEAL PROCESS: Colorado property owners have between May 1 and June 8 to appeal their property taxes in the reassessment year. Visit your county website to make sure you follow their process for appeals. Follow those county guidelines to the letter including submitting your appeal before the county's stated deadline. What you find at these links should supersede any deadlines you read in news articles or other online sources.
CLICK FOR BOULDER COUNTY APPEAL PROCESS
CLICK FOR LARIMER COUNTY APPEAL PROCESS
2. PROPERTY DATA: Make sure the assessor information about your property is accurate. Check the county assessor website and double check your home's square footage, zoning and all other information. Incorrect information could skew the assessment and should be corrected.
3. COMPARABLE SALES: Look for comparable sales between June 2020 and June 2022. I have provided links to the sales that occurred within this time frame in each general neighborhood of the Lyons area below. You can visit the link closest to your property to see those sold properties. Select at least 3 properties that you believe are similar to your own. Make sure you focus on "above grade" square footage in your comparisons. Try to find properties that are truly similar in size, condition, acreage etc.
4. STICK TO THE DATA: The county won't care if you "feel" your assessment is too high. They also won't care about what is happening with values right now or stories in the media about volatility in the real estate market. They will only look at the data and comparable sales within a specific timeline and that truly would be considered a comparable to your property.
5. COMMERCIAL DATA: This post is meant for residential property owners. Commercial building owners should use both comparable sold data and income / rent data from their building and neighboring buildings to help make their case with their appeal.
6. CONDOS/TOWNHOMES: There were no "attached" housing sales during this assessment period. You may be able to use older comparable for your appeal, but I would contact the county assessor's office to verify and ask how they came up with the reassessment without comparable sales.
COMPARABLE SALES FROM JUNE 2020 - JUNE 2022 (By Neighborhood Area):
CLICK ON THE NEIGHBORHOOD NAME LINKS below to pull up customized reports for each region. There may be some overlaps between neighborhoods. If your property is near another area, check both reports. This may help you find the right comparable sales too. Be patient if you don't have the fastest internet speeds. The links open very large PDF files so it may take a couple of minutes to load.
These are residential listings only, not land or commercial.
LINKS TO REPORTS:
TOWN OF LYONS (including Steamboat Valley Road, Vasquez)
APPLE VALLEY ROAD AREA (including Indian Lookout)
EAGLE CANYON AREA (including Groover):
LYONS PARK ESTATES / COUNTY ROAD 69 AREA
M O U N T A I N A R E A S (80540)
HIGHWAY 7 / RIVERSIDE / ALLENSPARK AREA IN 80540
HIGHWAY 36 (Between Lyons and Pinewood Springs)
RELATED NEWS ARTICLES (links):
https://www.cpr.org/2023/05/04/how-to-contest-colorado-property-tax-valuation-notices/
https://www.denverpost.com/2023/05/01/coloraod-property-tax-increase-polis-law-price-reduction/
https://www.cpr.org/2023/05/01/colorado-property-tax-relief-measure/
https://www.thecentersquare.com/colorado/article_10ceeb52-e522-11ed-9d38-172d5fb0bd57.html
This evaluation was prepared by a licensed real estate broker and is not an appraisal. This evaluation cannot be used for the purposes of obtaining financing