Garfield County’s overall property value is 9 percent higher than last year. Jim Yellico, the county assessor, said it’s all because of oil and gas.
For one, the county doesn't assess property values for homes and businesses this year and, therefore, any increase could only be from oil and gas.
Regardless, the industry’s property values rose 18 percent from last year. In Garfield County, it’s now valued at $1.8 billion and comprises nearly 60 percent of the county’s property value.
Yellico said this is not because production is way up.
"Production itself went down a little bit, but the prices got better," he said. "Not just the selling price, but the net price, after all expenses had been taken out."
In other words, companies were able to produce for less and sell for more.
The increase in value will affect different parts of the county differently, but, Yellico says, all special taxing districts west of New Castle stand to benefit, as do county-wide districts like the Garfield County Libraries and Colorado Mountain College.