Understanding Property Tax Allocations and The Impact on Your Community

Last week I wrote a post entitled Property Taxes a Hot Topic in Douglas County Colorado concerning the re-appraisal of properties in Douglas County, Colorado http://www.douglas.co.us// and the resulting increase in tax assessments for property owners in Douglas County. Regardless if you decide to protest your reassessment or accept the adjusted tax amount, I think that it is important to understand how your tax dollars are allocated to understand the value they represent.

The above illustration is a breakdown of tax allocations from an actual tax payer's property tax summary in the Stonegate Village sub-division in Douglas County taken from the Douglas County Assessors office website www.douglas.co.us/assessor/. The total annual tax for this homeowner is $2,752.18 and we can see a breakdown of their allocations by both percentages and dollars.

The largest allocation is for the Douglas County School District www.dcsdk12.org/, which is among the best districts in the state of Colorado. Few citizens would argue against the value of a sound public school system and the resulting benefit to the community. I would ask this question; if you had a child attending Douglas County Schools would you feel that an annual payment of $1,091.82 was a sound investment to have them receive a high quality education? If you had no children, would you value the indirect benefits and accept that half of your annual property tax liability was supporting the school system in your community?

In Colorado water is a very important issue and the cost associated with the supply of adequate water resources is reflected in this tax payer's summary. The Stonegate Village Metro District was allocated $643.63 from this tax year, which is only a portion of the total charges assessed to the homeowner as they will pay an additional monthly charge to the Stonegate Village Metro District.

Public education, water resources, government administration, police and fire protection are all cornerstones of any vibrant community. Through property tax assessments local governments can allocate adequate resources to ensure that communities continue to thrive and that citizens can safely enjoy a high quality of life.

I would venture that a small percentage of homeowners have taken the time to review the distribution of their property tax dollars taking into account the value of the services received when determining how they feel about their annual tax payments. I wanted to share this example to shed some light on the subject and inspire you to obtain and review your tax statement in order to better determine the return on your investment in the community.

For an informative brochure describing the property tax process in Colorado; including an example of typical allocations of property tax dollars follow these links to the Colorado Division of Property Taxation.

Colorado Division of Property Taxation Home Page: http://dola.colorado.gov/dpt/index.htm

Brochure "Understanding Property Taxes in Colorado":

http://dola.colorado.gov/dpt/publications/docs/brochures/5-07Understanding%20Property%20Taxes.pdf

For More Information about Denver Real Estate and Mortgage Programs contact James A. Holmes, Director of Private Mortgage Banking, Cherry Creek Mortgage Company. http://www.privatemortgagebanking.net/ or by calling me Toll Free at 888-850-6100 or email at mailto:james@privatemortgagebankinking.net