Every year around this time school boards across Colorado meet to vote on what the property tax rate will be for the next year. School boards have limited flexibility on setting the rates and only the voter approved mill levy overrides (MLO) are where the district can modify the rates. For MLO rates it depends on how the original ballot language was written with caps on tax dollars to be collected and/or the tax rate that can be set. The other factor is that revenue from MLO’s cannot exceed 25% of total program funds and if it does then the MLO rate or rates must be reduced.
For 2024 the rate for the 2018 MLO was reduced from 7.60 mils to 7.242 mills because of the 25% cap limit for revenue and so you the taxpayer received a slight tax savings!! Exciting stuff!!
Now for 2025 the total property tax rate is set to 44.883 mils because the temporary credit from the State is gone and the 2018 MLO rate is set back to 7.60 mils because the 25% cap no longer applies based on estimated 2025 program funding.
Now comes the part where the School Board must decide and vote on what is the property tax rate for 2025.
Option A: The board approves the 44.883 rate and the district will collect approx. $1,022,594 in additional tax revenue even though the taxable property decreased by $133,000
What does this mean for a homeowner? For me it means a tax increase of $252 because my taxable assessed value increased $3,685 and the change for you will depend on how your assessed value changed.
Option B: The board could reduce the rate for the 2018 MLO such as change from 7.60 to 5.477 which would decrease revenue to the district by approx. $6,697,871
What does this mean for a homeowner? For me it means a tax increase of $158 versus $252 which is not a lot but for some the savings could have a large impact on their disposable income.
After reading the hundreds of comments received from the survey sent out after the election it is clear that many in the community are struggling and more importantly there is a HUGE trust deficit with the majority of the taxpayers. In my opinion I believe doing this is a good first step in restoring and rebuilding trust with you the taxpayer and for this reason I will make a motion to request the 2018 MLO rate be changed from 7.6 to 5.477 mils which keeps the total mils at the 2024 rate.
The deadline to submit the certification is December 16th and that is why the board will meet this Friday at 9am in the boardroom to discuss and vote on the mill levy certification (property tax rate) and public comment is allowed prior to the vote. Here is the link to the meeting agenda and I realize that most of you will not be able to attend.
If you have any questions about this, don’t hesitate to give me a call on my cell phone 970-691-3446.
Nancy