The Montezuma County Assessor’s Office has seen an increase in property owners asking about higher property valuations. If your property’s assessed value went up since 2023, you’re not alone – and we want to help explain what’s behind these changes.
The county assessor’s office reassesses property values every two years. The current valuations, completed in 2025, will affect your 2025 property taxes, due in 2026. They are based on actual sales of comparable properties from Jan. 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, as required by state law. A “Notice of Valuation” is mailed each year by May 1 and forms the basis of your tax bill.
In 2023 and 2024, the Colorado Legislature provided reductions in actual value: $55,000 for residential properties and $30,000 for commercial improvements. These lowered taxes for those years, but the reductions do not apply in 2025. This may make your current taxes appear much higher, even if your property’s base value hasn’t changed significantly.
The adjusted actual value is multiplied by the assessment rate to determine your assessed value. Beginning in 2025, residential property has two rates: 6.25% for local government and 7.05% for school districts.
This is where it gets even more complicated. Your assessed value is then multiplied by the mill levies set by local taxing authorities based upon their budgetary needs and the voter-approved caps. Montezuma County has 38 taxing authorities, including the county, fire districts, cemeteries, municipalities, school districts, conservation districts, and the hospital. The totals are added to calculate your final property tax bill.
Local voters also approved school district mill levy increases in 2024. For example, the Dolores RE-4 levy rose from 33.961 mills in 2023 to 49.524 mills in 2024. Since most property taxes go to schools, this contributes significantly to higher bills.
For example, in 2024, one specific Montezuma County home had an actual value of $240,017. With the $55,000 reduction, the adjusted actual value became $185,017, and based on the location of that home, taxes for 2024 were $757.
For 2025, without the reduction and with the increased school district mill levy, the estimated taxes will be $1,262, even though the property’s base value may not have changed significantly.
We encourage all property owners to review their tax bills carefully to understand where their taxes go. The Montezuma County Treasurer collects taxes and distributes them to all taxing authorities. The county portion totals 13.01173 mills, which fund and for use only by Road & Bridge, Social Services, the General Fund used to fund all other county departments including the Sheriff’s office. Each year during the budgeting process, the Board of County Commissioners decides how many mills out of the total to allocate to each of these funds without exceeding the total approved by voters. Funds designated as “Montezuma County Law Enforcement Authority” (1.45 mills) are collected only from property owners in unincorporated Montezuma County and may only be used to help fund the Sheriff’s Office.
Want to learn more? Montezuma County Assessor Leslie Bugg will offer a series of informational classes this fall to explain the new rates and how taxes are distributed. Watch for announcements on dates and locations.
The Montezuma County Board of Commissioners is Chairman Jim Candelaria (District 1), Vice Chairman Kent Lindsay (District 2) and Commissioner of Deeds Gerald Koppenhafer (District 3).
