Important Dates

• June 15 - Notices of Value are mailed
• June 15 - Protest process begins
• June 30 - Last day to submit protest (postmarked no later than this day)
• July 11 - Assessor mails a Notice of Determination

Protest Options

• Email to assessormail@pitkincounty.com
• Mail:
  Pitkin County Assessor 
  530 E. Main St.
  Suite 204
  Aspen, CO 81611
• In Person (if our building opens, which it is not open yet):
  Pitkin County Administration Building
  530 E. Main St.
  Suite 204
  Aspen, CO 81611
  To speak to an appraiser, arrive between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday through Friday.
• Fax:  970-920-5174

Tips for a successful protest

Protesting your value is FREE and easy so here are some helpful tips of how to be successful in protesting your value:

• Review and submit comparable sales from within or nearby your neighborhood.  See Comparable Sales on this webpage.
• Write a summary of any information regarding your property that would ensure an accurate record of your property that we currently don't have or that might need correcting.
• Submit an appraisal from the appropriate time frame, if you have one.   
• If you have listed your property for sale or have any listing information such as a valid offer, that would be helpful.  Sales after the time period will be used for the next reappraisal cycle and cannot be used for the basis of value.
• Residential properties use valid sales that occurred to determine a market value.  Even if your property is not listed for sale, we must use market data to set values.
• Do not protest your taxes.  Our office only handles the value.  The Treasurer handles the taxes and taxing entities set the tax amounts (in the form of mill levies, which we do not set).
• Zillow values are not a valid argument for our office.  Those values are a computer-generated snapshot of the current time frame whereas our values are from past sales.
• Be sure to submit your information and protest on time.  

County Board of Equalization (CBOE) 

• July 15 (Real Property)
• July 20 (Personal Property)

Appeals Decisions

• CBOE will hear appeals from July 7th to August 5th.
• Decisions will be rendered by the close of business on August 5th.
• A written decision will be mailed no later than August 10th.

Notable Contacts

• County Board of Equalization (CBOE), Clerk to the Board of Equalization, Clerk and Recorder’s Office
  530 E. Main St.
  Aspen, CO 81611
  Ph: 970-429-2722
  Ph: 970-920-5157
• State Board of Assessment Appeals
  1313 Sherman
  Room 315
  Denver, CO 80203
  Ph: 303-866-5880
• District Court Combined Courts
  506 E. Main St. Aspen, CO 81611
  Ph: 970-925-7635
• Arbitration Board of Equalization
  530 E. Main St.
  Aspen, CO 81611
  Ph: 970-920-5157

Abatements vs Protests

Protests are during the month of May and Abatements are anytime the rest of the year.  They are essentially the same thing in that you are arguing the value of your property, but timing dictates how they are handled.  You can only do one or the other for each tax year.

For protests outside of the month of May, you can abate the taxes and go back up to 2 years.  If you decide to dispute the value for tax year 2020 but missed the May protest timeline, you can abate the taxes once they are posted in January 2021 or later (up to 2 years after January 2021).

Abatement forms can be found here:   

Colorado Department of Local Affairs for an Abatement Petition