Larimer assessor’s office: 10% residential valuation cut on local-government side of 2026 tax bills
Owners will receive the bills in 2027, and the assessor’s office will apply the reduction when it submits tax rolls in December. The separate assessment rate for schools is 7.05%.
A 10% residential valuation cut will apply to the local-government side of Larimer County’s 2026 property-tax bills, which owners will receive in 2027, an assessor’s office presenter told county commissioners. The office will add the reduction when it submits the tax rolls in December, the presenter said. Another 10% will apply after the 2027 reappraisal to the 2028 tax bill, the presenter said.
The split assessment rate is 6.8% for local governments and 7.05% for schools. In the presenter’s example, a property valued at $496,100 had a $3,128 bill under the old single rate and a bill about $64 lower under the split rate. The legislature set different rates to prevent a windfall for local governments from market activity while fairly funding schools, the presenter said.
Work on the 2027 reappraisal began July 1, the presenter said. The presenter expects softer valuations in 2027 for manufactured housing, residential properties and commercial properties. The results are not final, the presenter cautioned.
Owners whose homes burn retain residential status rather than being classified as vacant land, which has five times the assessed value of residential property, the presenter said. State law allows the office to suppress the value for five years while an owner rebuilds. That treatment ends after five years, though more time may be possible, the presenter said.
The assessor’s office’s first biannual report took a couple of years to develop and is intended to grow with public feedback, the presenter said. It was going live on the assessor’s website during the meeting, with hard copies available in the lobby or from the office. The office is “providing information in a usable form that is available to the public,” John Kefalas said, calling the report digestible.
Owners can appeal their valuations by scheduling an in-person, phone or Zoom appointment, the presenter said. During appeal season, the office also has a 24/7 drop box and opens the county’s Loveland office for a couple of weeks to serve southern county residents. A commercial market report and a tool to help owners review comparable properties before appealing are planned for 2027, the presenter said.