For property owners in Douglas County Colorado 2007 is a reappraisal year for property taxes. The county has been among the fasted growing counties in the United States for more than a decade. The county is comprised of more than 120,000 parcels, which are subject to a statutory reassessment of value by comparable sales for the period July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2006.  Due to the large number of parcels to be accessed, the county assessor's office implemented mass appraisals using computer modeling to determine value for each parcel as of June 30, 2006.

On May 1^st the Douglas County Assessor mailed a 2007 Real Property Notice of Valuation to all property owners in the county. I had the opportunity to review a client's statement, which provided six comparable sales deemed to be a sample of market activity, but not the basis for determining the value of her home. After reviewing the comparables I found that I could agree with three and strongly disagreed with three, so she has decided to protest her new assessment.

Based on the notice, her valuation has been increased from the 2006 valuation of $294,927 to $313,699; an increase of $18,722 or 6.35% in a flat market. On the surface is looks like a substantial increase given the present market environment for the area. I researched sales comparable during the review period and determined the true value to be $299,000 to $303,000, which is supported be an independent appraisal that was conducted in April of 2004.

Much to the credit of Douglas County Assessor Teri Cox and her staff, the protest process in Douglas County is streamlined and can be done in one of three ways; in person, online at www.douglascounty.co.us/assessor, or by fax. For convenience the county has also established two satellite centers open two days during the week in Parker and Lone Tree. The deadline for filing a protest is June 1, 2007.

For assistance obtaining comparible sales data in Colorado, contact James Holmes at 303-840-2319 or on the web at www.PrivateMortgageBanking.net