Property valuations that inform tax bills mostly leveled out in Pitkin County during the most recent cycle, with some exceptions, following the record-breaking valuations in 2023.
“There was still a strong market — slightly elevated, I would say, overall. There are pockets of the county that stayed flat. There are some that went down,” said Wendy Schultz, chief appraiser with the county. “There are some that still continue to go up, such as Snowmass Village. A lot of the condos there still continue to go up because of the new developments.”
Snowmass Village condominiums and property in Redstone were some areas of increase, said Schultz and Pitkin County Assessor Deb Bamesberger, but overall the valuation changes were mild.
The value of all property in Pitkin County as of May 1, when notices of valuation were mailed, was approximately $75.3 million. In 2024, it was approximately $72 million; in 2023, the cumulative value for all property in the county was $76.68 billion; in 2022, $41.38 billion.
According to preliminary data compiled by the Pitkin County Assessor’s Office, the May 1 actual value (or market value) of residential property increased 4.2% compared to the December 2024 actual value. Commercial property actual value increased 9.1% and agricultural property increased 28.7%
Property valuation is calculated by taking the actual value of a property, multiplying it by the assessment rate (which is set by the state legislature) to get the assessed value. Then to calculate taxes, the assessed value is multiplied by the mill levy and divided by 1,000 to get your tax bill. Mill levies are set by taxing entities like the county government, schools and libraries and are finalized later in the year.
This year, residential property assessed value is different for school district calculations. Residential property for most local governments will use an assessment rate of 6.25%. School district residential property use an assessment rate of 7.05%, per House Bill 24B-1001.
All other classifications including vacant land, commercial, industrial, natural resources and personal property use an assessment rate of 27%. Oil and gas production property uses an assessment rate of 87.5%.
The actual value of a property is calculated using sale data from the two-year period preceding the valuation. This cycle uses sales from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2024.
Schultz said this valuation cycle is more “relaxed” than 2023, the last time the assessor’s office valued properties.
As of Monday, Bamesberger said her office received around 830 appeals to protest the valuation and expects to process around 1,000. The deadline to postmark an appeal was Monday.
Of the approximate 16,837 properties in the county, Bamesberger said this cycle’s protests are a shadow of the 5,000 or so appeals in 2023.
The deadline for the assessor to answer the appeal with a Notice of Determination is June 30. From there, a property owner can take their appeal to the county Board of Equalization.
Later in the year, taxing authorities will take a look at their budgets and many have the authority to change their mill levy to tax their base at the level needed to meet their needs — though others, like most county funds, are limited to year-over-year increases of 5.5%.
“If the money coming in from the taxes isn’t the amount that they need, then they have to raise their mill levy. So taxes — you don’t know what they're going to do,” said Bamesberger. “I don’t know. We don’t know. Nobody knows. And the state could change the assessment rates again, too.”
And any new taxes put forth to voters on the November ballot will play into the final tax bills.
Tax bills based on these valuations will not go out until early next year.
