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Assessment Process
The Assessor is responsible for listing, classifying, and valuing all property in the county in accordance with state laws. Colorado law is very specific in establishing how and when Assessors value property:
- Real property must be revalued, or reappraised, every odd numbered year. In the intervening (even-numbered) years, the value stays the same as the previous year unless the property has changed (for example, due to new construction).
- The actual value of real property is based on its value as of the appraisal date, which is the June 30th of the year prior to the reappraisal year
- Residential property may be valued using only the market approach to value. In this approach the value of the subject property is based on an analysis of comparable sales to predict the price properties would have sold for on the Appraisal date
- Every reappraisal, we disregard the old valuations and start from scratch using a new sales list. In other words, we are not allowed to adjust values up or down by a percentage, but instead have to analyze sales from a study period specified by state statute. Sales or market influences that occurred after the appraisal date may not be considered.
- For tax years 2025 and 2026, the assessor must use a minimum of the comparable sales between January 1st, 2023 and June 30th, 2024. However, the assessor may include and analyze additional sales that occurred up to five years preceding June 30th, 2024, adding sales in six month increments. Gunnison County typically uses a minimum of 24 months which includes all sales consummated after the previous reappraisal, and accounts for seasonal differences in the market.
To return to the Assessor's page, click here.
To view more information on the various processes, click on the tabs below.
- Information Collection
- Economic Areas & Neighborhoods
- Reappraisal Sales
- Notice of Valuation
- Certification to Authorities
- Tax Warrant
Information Collection
The first step in the assessment process is to gather information on ownership, location, use, sales, building measurements, construction type, construction costs, and rental income.
Primary sources for this information are real property deeds and declarations, subdivision maps, building permits, and local building contractors. Other primary sources are declarations filed by owners of taxable personal property and appraisers who conduct on-site inspections to gather land and building characteristics. The assessor stores, updates, and maintains this information for current and future use in the assessment process. Other factors that influence value may be location, availability of services, and rental rates.
A property’s value may alter over time due to physical changes, such as new rooms finished in the basement or extensive remodeling and modernization. Changes made to maintain your property’s current value, such as painting your home, replacing your roof or making repairs would not necessarily increase the value of the property. But, if these tasks were not performed, the condition of the home would deteriorate which could adversely affect the value.
Most of the information gathered by the Assessor is public record and all of the public information available on individual properties is provided on our website through the property record search.
Economic Areas & Neighborhoods
Property types are generally self-explanatory, but economic areas and neighborhoods, when used for mass appraisal valuation, are not always so clear.
An economic area is a grouping of neighborhoods that have similar economic forces or geographic location. There also must be an adequate number of sales within each economic area to be statistically significant, and thus comply with the annual state audit of assessment. Due to the relatively low number of sales in Gunnison County, there are only four economic areas:
- Economic area 1 consists of the City of Gunnison and its immediate surrounds.
- Economic are 2 is the Town of Crested Butte. The Town of Crested Butte is unique due to its National Historic designation and its stringent zoning and design rules.
- Economic Area 6 consists of the upper East River valley, from Jack's Cabin north. It excludes all areas that have seasonal access, such as Irwin and Gothic.
- Economic area 8 is the remaining county, predominantly rural in nature and without the economic drivers of the other three areas.
View a map of the economic areas here (PDF).
Neighborhoods are smaller subsets of economic areas. A neighborhood consists of properties with similar geographic features. Neighborhoods can encompass just one subdivision, or may include large acreages of unplatted land.
Reappraisal Sales
By law, the assessor must consider a variety of market-based information in appraising different kinds of property:
- Vacant Land: Sales of similar land occurring during the study period are adjusted for market trends and physical differences such as size, topography and access to amenities.
- Residential Homes: State Statute allows for only the Market Approach to be considered for residential property valuation. Sales of similar homes, taken from the current study period, are adjusted for market trends and property differences such as size, location and age.
- Commercial Property: Sales, income and expense information, and cost to construct data of similar commercial properties are all considered.
To access the Reappraisal Sales for the 2023-2024 valuation period, click here.
Notice of Valuation
The assessor is required to send a Notice of Valuation to property owners by May 1 of each reappraisal year (odd numbered years) for real property. During intervening years (even numbered years), only those real properties with a change in characteristics from the previous year receive a Notice of Valuation.
The notice describes the property you own, gives the actual value for both the prior and current year, and provides an opportunity for you to present your objection to the assessor. When you receive a Notice of Valuation, study it carefully! The value shown on the notice will affect the amount of taxes you will pay the following January. The deadlines for appeal are statutory and enforced.
If you feel the value the assessor has placed on your property is incorrect, you may wish to file a protest. This is not a complaint about higher taxes. It is an attempt to demonstrate that your property’s estimated market value is inaccurate. You have the right to appeal your property value or its classification each year. Procedures for appealing your assessment are provided here, including deadlines for filing your appeal.
Certification to Authorities
In August of each year, the Assessor certifies the total assessed value of all properties located within the boundaries of each taxing authority. "Assessed value" refers to the portion, or percentage, of actual property value that is used for taxation purposes. This percentage is referred to as an "assessment rate" and is subject to change by the Colorado Legislature. By Constitutional mandate, the change in percentage maintains the present balance of the tax burden between residential and all other taxpayers. 2025 assessment rates are as follows:
- For most nonresidential property (commercial, vacant land, etc.), assessed values are calculated by multiplying the actual value by 27%
- The assessment rate for residential property is 7.05% for the purposes of school districts and 6.25% for other taxing entities
- The assessment rate for agricultural land and outbuildings is 27%
For the most current information on assessment rates, or to find assessment rates from previous years, please see the Colorado Division of Property Taxation.
The resulting assessed values are used by the taxing authorities (PDF) to determine their mill levies. If there is any change in the assessed value due to Board of Assessment Appeal decisions, abatements, or any other reason, these values are re-certified to the affected taxing authorities in early December to give them the most current figures for their calculations.
Tax Warrant
Once the property value is certified to the taxing authorities, they then determine their mill levies and submit them to the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) for review by December 15th. The mill levies are approved by the BOCC and certified to the Assessor by December 22nd.
Upon receipt of the certified mill levies from the BOCC, the Assessor enters the mill levies and extends the calculations against the individual property assessed values. The resulting property tax for each account is collectively called the Tax Warrant, and is delivered to the Treasurer by January 10th.