Mesa County explains property taxes and rising values

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - A property tax increase means some homeowners will struggle to keep up with costs. Mesa County Commissioners say they are working to connect with the 44 taxing entities in the county to reduce the number of mills on your property tax for this year to help reduce the burden.

Residential property values have risen on average by 39% in the past two years, sparking concerns.

“We’ve had a lot of people reach out and say, ‘I feel like my valuation is too high; this is going to be too much in taxes, I can barely afford food, rent, mortgage, you name it. I can’t handle this right now,’” said Mesa County Commissioner Cody Davis.

There are three components to calculating your tax bill: home value, assessment rate and mill levy. The home value is based on local market conditions. The assessment rate is the percentage of your home value that is used to calculate taxes owed, and the current residential rate is 6.765% and is set by the Colorado General Assembly. And mill levies, each taxing entity like the county, town, school district, etc., listed on your tax bill has an established number of mills. These mills, in most cases, were approved by voters.

“Municipalities have that ability, school districts, water districts, sewer decks, you name it, have that ability to bring it down to make sure that the tax burden doesn’t go up doesn’t spike too heavy,” said Davis.

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