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Appeals Processes

The Appeal Process | Should you Appeal? | Should you Get Help? | Appealing in Even Years

The Appeal Process

There are 4 levels of protest and appeal:

1)  Initial Protest to the Assessor’s Office directly – must be submitted by June 1

2)  If the Assessor does not adjust valuation to your satisfaction within the month of June per their “Notice of Determination”, you may petition for an Appeal to the county’s “Board of Equalization” before July 16 for a hearing in Mid-July to Early August (the “Board of Equalization” consists of the 3 County Commissioners)

3)  If the local county “Board of Equalization” still does not adjust your valuation to your satisfaction, you can further appeal their decision within 30 days of their decision and your further appeal can be heard in one of 3 ways:

              1.  By the STATE “Board of Assessment Appeals” in Grand Junction about a year later.

              2.  By the 7th District Court of Colorado (you will need an attorney)

              3.  By a paid Arbitrator (chosen by both you and the County, $150 max fees) – note: the Arbitrator’s decision cannot be further appealed

 Back to “Property Tax Appeals”

4)  If the District Court or the state “Board of Assessment Appeals” does not render a valuation to your satisfaction, you may make a final appeal to the Court of Appeals, but no new evidence may be admitted and only the record of the previous appeal may be reviewed.

 

Process for the INITIAL PROTEST to the Assessor’s Office:

  1. Either make the protest yourself or hire someone to do it for you
  2. Evaluate whether you have a case or not
  3. Build a case with good market analysis and with good understanding of the rules and statutes
  4. Present the case verbally at a meeting with Assessor’s office if possible in late May
  5. Submit the written protest with evidence etc. by June 1
  6. Receive the Assessor’s “Determination” as to whether or not they will adjust your valuation (and by how much) or not – usually received mid to late June and must be mailed by the Assessor to taxpayer no later than the last working day in June.

IF not satisfied with Assessor’s “Determination”, then the taxpayer can appeal that decision to the county “Board of Equalization”.

Process for SECOND LEVEL APPEAL to the county “Board of Equalization”:

  1. File an appeal by July 16 for a hearing no later than August 5
  2. Further build your case with market analysis etc.
  3. Before the hearing, review the county’s evidence they will be presenting
  4. Further build arguments to rebut the county’s evidence
  5. Go to the hearing (15 minutes allowed) and present written and oral evidence
  6. Receive the decision of the “Board of Equalization” (often right at the hearing) which must be mailed to taxpayer no later than August 5.

IF not satisfied with Board of Equalization’s decision, then the taxpayer can appeal that decision  further in one of 3 ways.

Further Appeals:

The appeal method that the owner chooses (there are 3 different methods) will determine which process will be followed, and can be explained at that time.  For all methods the appeal must be filed within 30 days and the further appeals take much longer to process and obtain hearings.

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