Colorado lawmakers propose property tax relief bill to drop property tax rate
DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) -- A group of bi-partisan lawmakers have proposed a senate bill that would address concerns over rising property taxes across Colorado. The bill would drop commercial property tax assessment rates a total of 4% in the next two years, from 29% to 25%. For homeowners, their home valuations would decrease by 0.01% from 6.8% to 6.7%.
Senate Bill 233 was introduced on Monday with three days left in the 2024 legislative session. It would decrease the amount lower and middle-income Coloradans pay in property taxes. Homeowners would see a 10% reduction in home value based on the valuation of their home.
People who have a home valued at less than $700,000 would see the largest decreases, on average saving homeowners around $55,000 on the value of their home, effectively decreasing the amount they owe on property taxes.
The bi-partisan group of legislators says this would save Coloradans a total of $1.3 billion in total. A concern for many stakeholders was creating a proposal that wouldn't cut funding to K-12 education in the state. At the press conference Monday, the lawmakers said there would be no cuts to education funding.
Instead, they state many of the cuts would come from "local governments," although specifics on what those cuts would look like have not been announced.
"We are going to make sure our schools are funded. We are going to make sure that we have a sustainable path forward," Democrat Senator Chris Hansen of Denver said.
KRDO13 Investigates reached out to El Paso County Assessor Mark Flutcher for his perspective on the proposal and how it would impact local government in El Paso County. He said he was still in the process of reviewing the bill and expects amendments to this legislation before the session closes on Wednesday.
This bill was introduced on the last day bills could be introduced and will be debated in the Senate on Monday. Senate President Steve Feinberg stated that he expects the bill to pass and avoid another potential special session to address the property tax increase dilemma.
