(The Center Square) – Coloradans can see their property tax estimates and analyze how a proposed ballot measure would impact property and state taxes through an online calculator.
The Common Sense Institute developed and launched mypropertytaxco.com for taxpayers to see how much their property taxes could increase. The free-enterprise think tank demonstrated how the site works during a webinar on Friday.
“We really felt the need to have an interactive tool so that Colorado voters can better understand the impacts to them,” said CSI Executive Director Kelly Caufield.
Visitors can enter their street address, choose whether they own or rent a home and select how they file their taxes. The results show the amount of property taxes owed in 2023, the amount owed next year under current laws, and the amount if Proposition HH is approved by voters in November. It also shows the amount of increase if another initiative makes it on the ballot to enforce a 4% cap in property taxes.
“We believe that Proposition HH is the most complicated ballot measure ever voted on by Coloradans and the most important,” Caufield said.
The 2023 property values are based on current information gathered from counties. The organization pledged to periodically update the site as final assessments are completed by county governments.
The online tool follows last week’s publication of the organization’s 45-page evaluation of the long-term impacts of Prop. HH. Voters will be asked whether property taxes should be reduced and lost property tax revenue replaced by reducing Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights refunds.
“This is something that taxpayers are going to have to understand and weigh those tradeoffs,” said Chris Brown, CSI’s vice president of policy and research. “We’re presenting a lot of valid information for voters to understand how this can impact them.”
The report found gains in property tax reductions from approving Prop HH could be outweighed by long-term state tax increases. It estimated Colorado taxpayers could lose $5,119 in TABOR refunds during the next decade.
Caufield said her organization will continue to provide information for voters in the coming weeks.
“Many of us on this call have spent two months on this and I think many average Coloradans were just thinking about getting back to school and the end of summer vacations,” Caufield said. “But now, people are really starting to think about this and hearing about this proposition. What will it change and what does it mean for my family?”
