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Colorado property taxes may increase 25%

By Noah Festenstein 01/22/2024 | updated 2 years ago

Despite Gov. Jared Polis approving several property tax relief bills after the failure of Proposition HH, Colorado homeowners may still pay an average of 25% more in property tax increases, according to an analysis by the Common Sense Institute.

Proposition HH intended to use the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights surplus revenue – normally money refunded to taxpayers – to reduce property taxes, fund school districts, water districts, fire districts, ambulance and hospital districts and other local governments.

Voters in November did not support the tax relief measure, which was estimated to save the average homeowner $1,200 in the next three years.

Following Proposition HH’s defeat, Polis held a special legislative session to discuss alternatives.

The session concluded lowering the residential assessment rate for the 2023 tax year, altering the rates from 6.7% to 6.765%. The change allows homeowners to exempt $55,000 of their home values from being taxed.

This amounts to around $430 million in state property tax relief.

But CSI said property taxes will still be substantially increased, more than $590 next year on average.

That number, down from a previous 36% increase, is still higher than normal in the past three decades, CSI said.

Between 2001 and 2023, Colorado’s total property tax revenues rose an average of $400 million per year.

New laws passed in November could result in $3.5 billion in state revenues this year, according to CSI. The state could have generated $3.8 billion in property tax revenues if not for November’s special session.

CSI concluded that statewide property tax revenue will “very likely” outpace inflation.

The Denver-Aurora-Lakewood Consumer Price Index rose 8% in 2022 and 5.22% in 2023, higher than national inflation.

Gov. Jared Polis on Nov. 9, 2023 calls lawmakers back to the state Capitol on Nov. 17 for a special session, primarily on property tax relief. Polis started the news conference by breaking glass with a baseball bat at right.Colorado Politics file
Noah Festenstein

Reporter

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