$8.5 Billion in Real Estate Tax-exempt, Study Claims

Tom McAvoy, The Pueblo Chieftain
September 14, 2000

DENVER - Nearly $8.5 billion of Colorado real estate is exempt from property taxes, according to the Colorado Public Expenditure Council.

The council, a private tax-payer watchdog group, based the report on state Division of Property Taxation data up to 1999.

State law provides tax exemptions for property used for religious purposes, ditches, canals, public libraries, non-profit schools and local, state and federal governments.

Since 1980, the value of tax-exempt property has grown to $8.46 billion from $3.39 billion, or an average of 5.7 percent a year over two decades, according to the report.

Government entities accounted for 78 percent of tax-exempt lands in Colorado. Property used for religious purposes accounted for 9.6 percent, private schools for 6 percent and the rest for tax-exempt charities, ditch companies and the like.

The report broke down the statewide figures by the state’s 13 planning regions.

The eight-county Denver metropolitan area, Region 3, had by far the most tax-exempt property - $4.6 billion worth - because of the concentration of government and other publicly owned land and buildings.

Pueblo County, which is Region 7, had %56.3 million of tax-exempt property as of 1999, according to the report.

Region 6, the six-county southeast corner of the state, had $88.4 million.

Region 8, the six-county San Luis Valley, had $71.2 million.

Region 13, the four-county Upper Arkansas Valley, had $72 million.

Region 14, which is Huerfano and Las Animas counties, had $42 million.