Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Routt County property owners may be finding themselves in what is being called a “perfect storm” for property value assessments. In a time when most people find themselves in the grip of a recession, trying to hang on to everything they’ve got, assessed property values (and taxes) have actually increased.
So how does it happen that when property values have seen a decline in recent months, that assessments for tax purposes have shot up? Way up in some cases.
It’s because of a mandated comparison period between the end of 2006 and the first half of 2008. In hindsight, this is when record sales were achieved in Routt County and property values soared. Some areas were seeing appreciation figures upwards of 1.5 to 2 percent per month!
With many owners looking around at current comparable sales and asking the county commissioners how this is fair, the results have led to a record number of property valuation appeals filed this summer. 2,800 appeals have been filed this year while the previous record was 1,800 back in 2001. The commissioner’s office now finds itself scrambling to resolve all appeals by the early August deadline.
