Routt County residents received property valuation notices in the mail last week — the end of a process that County Assessor Gary Peterson and his staff started more than eight months ago.

“This particular reappraisal was very much a mixed bag,” Peterson said. “There was not a sweeping, clear-cut rising tide where all properties were going up in value and certainly not moving at similar rates.”

He said the notices that residents are finding in their mailboxes are the result of a mass reappraisal and are part of a complex process that has had his staff working to assign values to an estimated 27,000 accounts in Routt County.

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“The entry-level condo units, I think, saw consistent increases, whereas the mid-level condominium and townhome market varied a bunch from complex to complex,” Peterson said.

“We certainly have some property segments where the values are dropping some, and many where the change in value is minimal.  With Steamboat single-family, the land values shot up while the house values dropped a bit for an overall modest increase, generally speaking — all these statements are a ‘generally speaking’ sort of comment as there are always exceptions and outliers to the data — in both directions,” he added.

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What does the 2025 Real Property Notice of Valuation tell the homeowner?

For most Steamboat Springs homeowners, the valuation will reflect the assessment of the home and the property where the home sits. If the homeowner is not the owner of the land, the notice will only include the home.

The notice identifies the property owner, the exact address of the property and an account number. It will also give the prior and current land value, the prior and current value of the home and the difference in those figures.

Peterson said the valuations may leave many homeowners wondering why their valuation is higher, or lower, than that of their next-door neighbor, how the values were determined, and what the numbers will mean when the time comes to pay taxes. Routt County property owners can elect to pay taxes in two halves, on Feb. 28 and June 15, or pay them in full on April 30.

Why are my neighbor’s valuation lower, or higher, than the one I received?

“It’s tough in resort communities because you don’t have these big subdivisions of cookie cutter houses, where there’s (only) four, five or six different floor plans, and they’re all built to the same quality and same finishes for the most part,” Peterson said. “That makes modeling and mass appraisal easy.”

Houses in every neighborhood and on every street are different in resort communities like Steamboat Spring, according to Peterson. He said many custom homes present huge variables such as location, and that means assessors have a long list of factors that must be considered when coming to a value.

Peterson said valuations are easier to complete in large-tract subdivision where homes are often built by the same builder and have similar designs. But in resort communities, each home tends to vary greatly even in the same neighborhood or area. Those differences, Peterson said, can make a huge difference in how those properties and homes are valued, and potentially what the owners will pay in taxes.

“When your house style, design and floor layout are dictated by topography or the view orientation that drives all these custom homes,” he said, “it’s more difficult, because each one is different.”

How does the assessor goes about determining the value of my property or home?

The process of assessing the values property owners find on their valuation notice is complex and is based on the sale of similar homes or properties in the area. Those values are determined by similar properties that have sold in a “super” neighborhood (a designated geographic area within a specified area that is comprised of several smaller neighborhoods) or an individual neighborhood.

Once the base price is determined, assessors consider a long list of other adjustments that determine the valuation, including the exact location of the property — such as whether the home is located on a lot with prime views or a noisy section overlooking the highway. Lot size also factors in, as well as the condition of the home when assessed.

Other factors include age of the home, the quality of construction, additions, improvements and square footage — along with the number of bedrooms and size of a garage.

Other questions factored into the equation including whether the basement finished or unfinished, and whether there are other buildings or structures on the property.

Once all those factors have been weighed, Peterson said his office comes up with the final valuation.

What does the valuation mean for property taxes?

The valuation — its “actual value” — is just a part of the equation that results in an owner’s final tax statement. Property owners’ tax bills are also determined by property classification, assessment rate, assessed value and tax rate.

The county assessor is responsible for discovering, listing, classifying and valuing all property in the county in accordance with state laws, according to the Colorado Department of Local Affairs.

The assessor’s goal is to establish accurate values for all property located within the county, which in turn is designed to ensure that the tax burden is distributed fairly and equitably among all property owners, according to DOLA.

Real property is revalued every odd-numbered year, and the money generated from property taxes supports public schools, county governments, special districts and municipal governments, and junior colleges. The revenue generated by property tax stays within the county and does not fund any state services.

What is the assessed rate?

The assessment rate is determined by the Colorado General Assembly but has not been finalized for 2025 because rates are subject to a multi-step process involving the state legislature, the state Board of Equalization and local governments.

“This year we don’t even truly know our assessed values yet because we’re waiting on this study, ” Peterson said. “I think they’re waiting until early fall to see what the local growth is on a statewide basis. They’re projecting those to be less than 5%, and then our numbers are 6.25% (for residential) and 7.05% on the schools.”

DOLA is also projecting those assessment rates, which are then applied to the actual value of the property to determine the assessed value of the property. DOLA is projecting assessment rates for commercial and industrial properties, as well as vacant land, will be 27.5%.

“Our state constitution requires that for residential-class property, the value is derived solely from the market approach to value or sales comparisons,” Peterson said. “With commercial property, we must consider cost and income approaches as well.  Agricultural-classified properties are valued using only the income approach, per state statute.”

What is a mill levy, and how does it factor into what I pay in taxes?

A mill levy is a tax imposed by local governments and various authorities, such as school districts, county governments and cities.

Each authority sets a mill rate (1 mill is $1 per $1,000 of assessed value) based on the amount of revenue the authority needs for the upcoming year.

Peterson said there are currently 46 taxing authorities in Routt County that assess a range of mill levies on the communities they support for everything from fire and water districts to parks and recreation. In simple terms, for every $1,000 of assessed property value, the owner pays a certain number of dollars — which is the mill levy. 

What if I don’t agree with the property valuation?

Peterson said there is a protest or appeal process in place for property owners to object to their valuations. Property owners have from May 2 until June 9 to appeal the valuation, which is limited by state statute.

“We encourage anyone wanting to know more about their property’s valuation or classification to first go to our website and review the information found on the 2025 reassessment page,” Peterson said.

“From there, you can find our sales spreadsheets listing all the sales occurring in the two-year sales period broken out by their respective ‘econ areas’ or property types. These spreadsheets are set up for filtering down by location and or size to find sales in your neighborhood,” he added.

Peterson also referred property owners to COMPER, a website that uses an adjustable and interactive algorithm to find comparable properties that sold, helping property owners decided if an appeal is warranted.

The appeal process has three levels.

The assessor-level of appeal for property owners that disagree with the decision made by an assessor must be filed by June 8. After filing an appeal with the assessor, a notice of determination will be mailed by Aug. 15. If the property owner does not agree with the determination, they can the appeal to the County Board of Equalization.

That second-level appeal spurs a closer look by the appraiser and a hearing scheduled where the property owner and staff appraiser each present their evidence to a hearing officer appointed by the county commissioners.

Finally, the property owner can choose one of three options for a third-level appeal including district court, binding arbitration or a Board of Assessment appeals hearing.

“We suggest you make an appointment to talk with your assigned appraiser, to first talk about your property’s value and the comparable sales that occurred prior to filing a formal appeal,” Peterson said. “But you can appeal without talking to us or making any appointment.”

Peterson knows the system is not perfect, but he said his office is working hard to make sure the system is as open as possible for Routt County property owners.

“This is very much a different reappraisal than I’m used to, where we have a constant rising of the tide,” Peterson said. “It seems to be very broad, and even just the different market segments are just behaving differently.”