Area property taxes add up to $22M
Montezuma County residents should have received their 2008 property tax bills in the mail last week – a bit later than in the past.
In years past, property tax bills typically arrived in January. This year the bills have arrived about two weeks before the first payment is due. Montezuma County Treasurer Sherry Dyess said a new computer program and a late start with the tax roll are the reason for the late notices.
If someone plans to pay their property taxes in halves, they must have the first half in by Feb. 29, one day later than usual because it is a leap year, Dyess said.
Those who wish to wait longer than Feb. 29 can pay their taxes in full without penalties by April 30.
Dyess said this is the first time tax officials have used the new computer system, which replaced an old, antiquated system. Once they work out the kinks, she said, things should run more smoothly at the office.
“I think it will get better,” she said.
More than $22 million in property taxes will be collected this year for local tax districts.
Of that money, 41 percent goes to schools, 30 percent goes to Montezuma County, 28 percent goes to special taxing districts and cities get 1 percent of the property tax money.
Oil and gas industry within Montezuma County pays 41 percent of the tax revenue, owners of vacant land pay 8 percent, commercial and industrial property owners pay 16 percent, residential property owners pay 21 percent, agricultural property owners pay 6 percent, public utilities pay 8 percent, and natural resources pay less than 1 percent, according to Montezuma County Assessor Mark Vanderpool.
Residents might see other changes on this year’s property tax notices, Vanderpool said.
The senior citizen discount does not show up on the bill, but those who qualified still received the discount, Vanderpool said. The new software just didn’t show it.
Vanderpool said his office has been getting a lot of calls about the issue.
“They really are getting the discounts; it just doesn’t show they are getting it,” he said. “Everybody we have checked on so far has gotten the discount.”
As residents prepare to pay their property taxes, they might wonder about all those taxing districts listed on the bill, how much money the districts actually collect and where the money is spent.
One mill is $1 per $1,000 of assessed value. Below is a list of some of the taxing districts in Montezuma County and their revenue in 2007:
Montezuma County General Fund – levy 10.338, revenue $4,721,499. Taxes go to help fund general government activities such as the board of county commissioners, county clerk and recorder, elections, county treasurer, public trustee, county assessor, sheriff’s office, county jail, county coroner, district attorney, county attorney, administration, planning department, IT and computer services, veterans office, Colorado State University Cooperative Extension, health department, Senior Services, animal and pest control, fairgrounds, county fair, and Federal Lands Program.
Montezuma County Road and Bridge Fund – levy 2.616, revenue $1.194,761 Money funds activities related to county road and bridge construction and maintenance. State law requires the county to allocate 11 percent of the property taxes to Dolores, Mancos and Cortez.
Montezuma County Social Services – levy 1.3, revenue $593,727. Accounts for federal and state public welfare programs administered by the county.
Montezuma-Cortez School District Re-1 – levy 18.874, revenue $6,668,744.
City of Cortez – levy 1.232, revenue $102,027.
Cortez Cemetery District – levy .43, revenue $57,328.
Cortez Fire Protection District – levy 6.32, revenue $805,760. Money goes to fund fire prevention and protection services. Voters approved an additional levy of 2.0 in 1994 for capital expenditures. It would have sunset in 2003 and was taken back to the voters in 2002 to approve a set 2 percent to fund capital, equipment and maintenance.
Montezuma County Hospital – levy .901, revenue $411,498.
Montezuma County Law Enforcement – levy 1.45, revenue $513,586.
Montezuma County Mosquito – levy .576, revenue $189,150.
Southwest Colorado Television – levy .777, revenue $346,435.
By SHANNON LIVICK, Cortez Journal
