Appeals process

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An assessment appeal is not a complaint about higher taxes. It is an attempt to demonstrate that your property's estimated market value is inaccurate. You have the right to appeal your property value or its classification. Procedures for appealing your assessment are provided here, including deadlines for filing your appeal. Please review this information carefully, and examine all the material included with your Notice of Valuation (NOV).

To preserve your right to appeal, you must file your appeal by the dates listed below; after these dates, your right to appeal is lost.

To preserve your right to appeal, you may be required to prove you have filed a timely appeal. Therefore, we recommend all correspondence be mailed with proof of mailing.

Note: You will not win an appeal because you think your taxes are too high. This is an issue you must take up with the officials who determine budgets. However, some individuals may be eligible for tax relief or exemptions. The Assessor's Office can provide you with information about available property tax exemptions, credits and/or deferrals.

Appeals by mail

If you choose to mail a written appeal, you may elect to complete the appeal form provided online or complete the form included with your Notice of Valuation (NOV) and mail it to the Assessor at the address listed on the NOV.

To preserve your right to appeal, your mailed appeal must be postmarked no later than June 1, 2009.

Appeals by fax

A written appeal may also be faxed to our office. Use the appeal form included with your Notice of Valuation, complete, sign and fax to 303-441-4996.

To preserve your right to appeal, your faxed appeal must be received in our office no later than 11:59 pm on June 1, 2009.

If you are faxing your appeal on June 1, please be sure to allow enough time in the event that others are also faxing their appeals at the last minute.

Online appeals

You may appeal your assessment online.

We will not accept any online appeal time-stamped after 11:59 pm on June 1, 2009.

Appeals in person

If you wish to appeal in person, please come to the Assessor's office located on the 2nd floor of the Boulder County Courthouse, 1325 Pearl Street. You may also appeal in person by coming to one of the Remote Appeals Locations, open to the public on the dates listed below.

While we make every effort to accommodate those who appeal in person, we have a limited staff and cannot guarantee that an appraiser will be able to see you immediately. We recommend that you come to the Assessor's office early in the appeal period to avoid crowds and delays you may encounter at the end of the month.

To preserve your right to appeal, you must present your oral or written appeal in the County Assessor's Office on or before 5:00 PM on June 1, 2009.

The appraiser conducting your meeting will review your property record with you and may give you information about comparable properties. Present any information you have gathered (see Preparing Your Appeal, below). The appraiser will not commit to a change in value at this meeting, even though you may have uncovered an error or the assessment appears to be inequitable.

You will receive a written Notice of Determination (NOD) from the Assessor's office by no later than the last working day in August.

An assessment appeal is not a complaint about higher taxes. It is an attempt to demonstrate that your property's estimated market value is inaccurate.

Your appeal should demonstrate at least one of two things:

Property record is incorrect

Items that affect value are incorrect on your property record. Some examples of this are:
• You have one bath, not two.
  
• You have a carport, not a garage.
  
• Your home has 1,600, not 2,000 square feet.

Property value is too high

The estimated market value is too high: You have evidence that similar properties have sold for less than the estimated market value of your property. The Assessor establishes values on homes using residential sales from the 24-month period beginning July 1, 2006, time-adjusted to the final day of the period ending June 30, 2008. The sales evidence you include in your appeal should be obtained from the same time period.

A note concerning taxes

You will not win an appeal because you think your taxes are too high. If you think your value is correct, but your taxes are too high, this is an issue you must take up with the officials who determine budgets for each taxing authority. Taxes can not be appealed through the Assessor's office. However, some individuals may be eligible for tax relief or exemptions. The Assessor's Office can provide you with information about available property tax exemptions, credits and/or deferrals.

Prepare

Review the facts and property characteristics on your Notice of Valuation. Is the architectural style correctly stated? If not, a recent photo of your home will help correct the information. Check the living area of your home, the presence or absence of a garage or finished basement, the construction materials, the condition, and so on.

Research

Gather as much information as you can on similar properties in your area. The information on all real estate in Boulder County is available on this website, using either the E-Mapping online mapping tool or the Property Record Search.

Inquire

A database of verified sales during the study period (July 1, 2006 through June 30, 2008) is available in the Assessor's Office. Or ask a real estate broker for sales prices on these properties during the study period. Comparable sales are also available on this website, using the List of Sales in Neighborhoods.

Compare

Use the addresses of comparable properties to review their individual characteristics, which will include actual values. Compare the features of these properties to the features of yours. If there are differences, the values of the properties may be different.

Note: If you are appealing the value of your business personal property, please see Personal Property Appeals Procedures, below, Contact the Assessor's Office for more information.

To appeal your business personal property valuation

Personal Property Notices of Valuation are mailed no later than June 15, 2009. The Assessor conducts hearings on personal property valuation appeals beginning June 15 and continuing through July 5. Personal property appeal procedures are identical to procedures for real property appeals, although the dates are different.

Personal Property Owners: Appeals must be postmarked, hand-delivered, faxed, or filed online by June 30th.

Hand-delivered written appeals will be accepted through 5:00 PM, June 30, 2009.

We will not accept any online or faxed appeal time-stamped after 11:59 pm, June 30, 2009.

The Assessor must make a decision and mail a Notice of Determination (NOD) on Real and Personal property appeals to you by the last working day in August.

If you disagree with the Assessor's determination, you can file a written appeal with the County Board of Equalization (CBOE) on or before September 15, 2009.

To preserve your right to appeal, you may be required to prove you have filed a timely appeal. Therefore, we recommend all correspondence be mailed with proof of mailing.

The CBOE schedules and completes their hearings before November 1. The board must notify you in writing within five business days after their decision is made.

If you are satisfied with the CBOE decision, the process ends there.

If not, there are three (3) options:

• Enter into binding Arbitration,
  
• Appeal to the Board of Assessment Appeals (BAA), or,
  
• Go to District Court. You must appeal within 30 days of the CBOE decision.

If you choose Arbitration after the CBOE decision, the decision reached at Arbitration is final and not subject to review.

If you are satisfied with the decision rendered by either the BAA or District Court, the process ends there. If, however, the decision rendered by either the BAA or District Court is unsatisfactory, you may then appeal to the Court of Appeals within 30 days of the BAA decision or 45 days of a District Court decision. And beyond that, to the Colorado Supreme Court.

Appeals at Remote Locations throughout Boulder County

These remote appeal locations are open from 8:00-4:30 on the dates listed for each site.

If you have questions about the appeals process, please call 303-441-3530 to reach our Public Information staff between 8 am and 5 pm. We look forward to the opportunity to answer your questions.