COLORADO — Governor Jared Polis wants to see local governments and school districts lower their rates that impacts property taxes.
Earlier this month, voters rejected "Proposition HH", a proposal referred to the ballot by lawmakers as a way to try and reduce the increase in taxes coming Coloradans way.
Many homeowners throughout the state saw a 40% increase in their homes values during the most recent assessment period.,
The measure would have allowed the state to retain money typically refunded back to taxpayers under the Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR) and in exchange reduce the assessed values for homeowners and the assessment rate, which is used to calculate property taxes.
In response to the ballot question's defeat, Polis called a special session for lawmakers to pass various solutions to try and reduce the increase in property taxes for Coloradans.
State legislators passed six bills, including a bill to reduce assessed values by $55,000 and the assessment rate from 6.765% to 6.7%.
In letters sent to local elected officialsand school board members, the governor is calling on them to reduce mill levy rates as a way to give more of a reduction in taxes.
During the 2023 regular legislative session, lawmakers passed a billto clarify that local governments can give at temporary mill levy reduction or tax credit and later eliminate those credits.
School districts are under different restrictions with their mill levies, as some districts have mill levy overrides. The state also sets a "total program mill levy" for each school district which they cannot lower as it impacts teacher pay.
____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.
