“Legislator questions Boulder plan to keep residential tax rate on Fourmile fire victims' land” plus 1 more

Legislator questions Boulder plan to keep residential tax rate on Fourmile fire victims' land

Posted: 28 Dec 2010 12:17 AM PST

Victims of Colorado's costliest wildfire could face steep property tax hikes if the Boulder County assessor followed a state law as written.

That's because property without homes or other buildings is considered vacant land and assessed at a rate nearly four times greater than the residential rate.

The Fourmile Canyon fire on Labor Day destroyed 169 structures, mostly homes, across 6,100 acres west of Boulder.

In 2011, assessed property values will be determined for the 2012 and 2013 tax years.

Boulder County Assessor Jerry Roberts has said he has no plans to charge the fire victims the nonresidential property rate, according to the Daily Camera.

He and other assessors say they take natural disasters into account when determining whether to classify property as residential or nonresidential.

But state Rep. Claire Levy, an attorney, said she doesn't think the law gives assessors that leeway.

"The current law is just too rigid," she said, "but I'm not comfortable with the assessor ignoring the statute, even out of compassion."

The Boulder Democrat plans to introduce a bill next session that would allow property owners beset by natural disasters a certain period of time to rebuild before their property is reclassified.

One assessor said he would welcome guidelines but feared that establishing a set time period could lead to even more problems.

"What is the right number? Is it 18 months? Is it 24 months?" said Jefferson County Assessor Jim Everson. "If you have someone working their butt off to get their house built but the time period elapses, do you all of a sudden hit them with the higher rate?"

He said a group of metro assessors, including Roberts, discussed the issue this month when talking about the law and ways to improve it. He said they didn't come up with a solution.

Everson said his office "takes a fairly expansive view of what constitutes a residential use under the law.

"If they're in the process of rebuilding and they continue to do that, the character of the property still remains residential," he said.

Levy began looking into the issue after the attorney for a Fourmile fire victim contacted her worried about what would happen to the homeowner's property-tax bill.

Levy contacted the assessor but was concerned when she discovered what she sees as a black-and-white law being applied in shades of gray. "I'm not comfortable with assessors picking and choosing which law they want to apply," she said.

Roberts could not be reached for comment.

The Camera reported that only three home owners so far have applied for permits to replace their lost homes.

Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327 or lbartels@denverpost.com

Category makes big difference

Assessed property values are calculated at a rate of 7.96 percent of actual value for residential property and 29 percent for nonresidential property.

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Property Owners Rush To Pay Tax Bills

Posted: 28 Dec 2010 10:58 AM PST

UPDATED: 12:47 pm CST December 28, 2010

MILWAUKEE -- A lot of property owners are rushing to pay their property taxes by the end of the week.Deputy Chief Treasurer Jim Hanna said as of Monday, property tax collection was about a half percent ahead of pace compared to last year."We had quite a rush 2½ weeks ago. There were longer lines then than there were now, and that's because most of them had refunds coming," Hanna said.Friday is a city holiday, but the treasurer's office will be open for collections.Technically, all Wisconsin property owners have until Jan. 31 to pay their tax bills, but many do it before the end of the year to get the writeoff of their income taxes.To pay those property taxes, a drop box is available inside the Market Street entrance to the City Hall seven days a week, 24 hours a day. A second drop box is also available inside the Broadway Street entrance to the Frank P. Zeidler Municipal Building, but can only be accessed during regular business hours when the building is open.Taxpayers should not deposit cash payments in either of these drop boxes. Tax payments deposited in these drop boxes will normally be credited on the following business day, according to the City Treasurer Wayne Whittow.Any property tax bill dropped in the slot after midnight Dec. 31 will be marked as a payment for 2011.For more information, visit the Milwaukee treasurer's website at http://city.milwaukee.gov/treasurer.

Other Treasurer's Office Hours

Brookfield: The office open on New Year's Eve and for the rest of the week from 8 a.m. to to 5 p.m.Kenosha: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.Racine: The treasurer's office will be closed on Thursday and Friday.Waukesha: You can drop your property tax bills off all week from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.Wauwatosa: The treasurer's office has limited hours on New Year's Eve from 9 a.m. to noon. The rest of the week, it's open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Property Tax

Tuesday, December 28, 2010