This year’s property tax bill is provoking some cringes statewide as expiring reductions and rising assessments cause increases.

El Paso County, the state’s most populous, was not left behind.

“My property taxes have gone crazy,” said Colorado Springs resident Tim Burke.

The handyman has lived in the Old North End for over 30 years. With one year left until he qualifies for the Colorado Senior Homestead Exemption, Burke said he was experiencing fatigue on multiple fronts from insurance, utilities costs and mortgage payments.

“I’d like to retire someday, but I don’t see that in the future right now,” he said.

Facebook posts show some residents claiming a bill up to 40% higher than last year. The county assessor’s website has a banner up explaining some of the increase “for many homeowners.”

El Paso County Assessor Mark Flutcher said the full reason was a lot to understand.

“It’s extremely confusing,” he said.

The first and most universal reason for higher taxes is the expiring value reductions. In 2022, state lawmakers passed a tax bill reducing valuations on homes by $15,000. The reductions continued in 2024, when ongoing tax disagreements at the state level resolved with another bill increasing the discount up to $55,000.

The discounts were temporary, however, and this is the first year taxpayers are seeing bills without them, leading to sharp increases.

Next year’s bill will likely see some reductions return, said Flutcher. For 2026’s bill paid in 2027, reductions are scheduled to take off 10% of a home’s valuation, up to $70,000.

The second change, and the biggest potential math headache, is a new split between assessment rates for school districts versus other taxing districts. For the first time, Colorado property owners will pay a different, higher rate for schools.

For 2025, Flutcher said the regular assessment rate was 6.25% for districts like fire departments and local governments, while school districts assessed at 7.05%. Assessment rates are multiplied by a property’s actual value to arrive at the taxable assessed value. That means to find out a taxpayer’s bill, more calculations need to be done and more money goes to schools.

“That’s never happened in state history before,” said Flutcher.

The third factor is the property market, which may be hurting or helping a taxpayer’s bill depending on where they live and other factors. In general, home values in some places have gone down as the market cools from its frenzied high in 2021 and 2022.

“You could put a house on the market Friday and get it sold Saturday,” said Flutcher.

Odd years are reappraisal years, meaning assessor’s offices have new valuations for property based on delayed data — 2025’s appraisals were based on market values starting in 2022. Flutcher said Pikes Peak area valuations are catching up to the more “normal” market.

That’s good news for some established, working-class neighborhoods in places like Security-Widefield, for example. Values are still going up in other places, especially closer to the mountains on the west side of El Paso County. Flutcher said more generally affluent neighborhoods like Broadmoor Bluffs will see increases.

The county has an appeal process for property owners who think they’ve gotten an incorrect appraisal. Burke said he successfully appealed his house down from $880,000 to $525,000.

A wild card in the tax calculation is metropolitan districts, which are quasi-governmental entities that form to pay for infrastructure, typically in newer or expanding neighborhoods. Metro districts are sometimes de-TABORed, meaning they don’t have to follow revenue limits laid out in Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

Homeowners in metro districts could see even higher taxes based on their neighborhood, said Flutcher.

Despite the eyebrow-raising increases, Colorado remains a state with one of the lowest overall property tax rates. According to the Tax Foundation, the state ranks 41st in the country based on 2023 data.