The Colorado State Board of Equalization has approved a plan put forth by the Fremont County Commissioners to reimburse the State for costs associated with the reappraisal of commercial property in Fremont County. The reappraisal was ordered one year ago by the Colorado Division of Property Taxation after it was determined that errors were made in the actual appraised values for commercial and industrial properties in the County.
In a final report issued by the Division of Property Taxation in October, Fremont County was ordered to repay $131,262 plus interest at four percent for a total of $136,689 to the State Board of Education. That represents the amount of excess aid to schools that was paid to school districts in Fremont County in 2004 due to commercial properties in the county being appraised below market value by the Assessor. Fremont County was also ordered to pay supervision costs of $54,751. That represents the time that staff members from the Division of Property Taxation spent working on the reappraisal from January through June with County Assessor Jim Deatherage and his staff.
The State Board of Equalization also accepted the Commissioners' plan to utilize a provision in state law that will permit the County to include the full $54,751 amount in additional spending in the 2006 Assessor's budget instead of a reimbursement to the state. Among investments to be made with those funds next year is money for new GPS-enabled tablet computers for use by appraisers in the field and money to produce a current set of G.I.S. maps to replace deteriorating and obsolete maps now in use at the Assessor's Office.
The reappraisal order that was issued to Fremont County one year ago indicated that median sales ratios for commercial and industrial property were not within standards set by the state board. The state also found that the Assessor's Office had improperly changed the values on 79 Fremont County commercial and industrial properties in 2004. Value changes can be made only during a reappraisal year which took place in 2005. The only changes that could have legally been made in the intervening year of 2004 were due to new construction, remodeling, additions, demolitions, or change in use of the land.
The final report from the State Board of Equalization said that the 2005 reappraisal work raised the values for commercial and industrial properties in Fremont County to $66,674,171 representing a 9.4 percent increase.
The state also commended Deatherage and his staff for their cooperation during the reappraisal and said the staff took the responsibility for completing the job in a professional manner.