The tax rate that property owners pay into the county’s general fund will drop from 0.002960 to 0.002821 because property values increased by 7 percent this year over last year, Carroll said during the July 7 Grand County Council meeting.
State law forbids tax collections on existing properties to increase from one year to the next unless the county formally adopts a tax increase, Carroll said.
The 7 percent increase in valuation means that the county can collect the same amount this year as last with a lower tax rate, she said. That means that, for this year, the portion of tax paid collected by the county on a $100,000 home will drop from the $296 paid last year to $282 this year, Carroll said. Overall property taxes collected by the county include tax money that goes to other taxing entities such as the fire district, the library and the Grand County School District, so the total taxes paid on a property are significantly higher than the amounts collected only for the county’s general fund.
“I think it’s magical,” county council member Audrey Graham said in response to Carroll’s announcement. The council held no further discussion on the matter during last week’s meeting.
The lower rate means the county will collect $3.1 million on $1.1 billion worth of property, Carroll said. In addition, the county will collect new taxes on $20.1 million worth of new growth property, Carroll’s figures show.
While the county portion of the noticed taxes will show little change Carroll said she has no idea what the taxes to be charged by the Grand County School District will be.
That mystery must be solved soon because the county is obliged by law to mail property tax notices to all property owners later this month.