Duties and Responsibilities

The Assessor’s Office is responsible for discovering, listing, classifying and valuing all of the real and personal property in the county.
The work of the office is audited annually by an independent auditor contracted by the State Legislative Council and must meet criteria established by the State Board of Equalization.

Mass Appraisal 

Assessors use ‘mass appraisal techniques’ in the valuation of property. Data is gathered and analyzed from property that sells during the data gathering period (generally 18 months) and this data is used to establish new values that are then applied to property located in the county. Data is stratified by type of property and geographical areas.

Valuation

The work of the Assessor’s staff culminate in the valuation of all property classifications. These values are certified to the state of Colorado and also to local taxing entities for budget preparation. The assessment process is the basis for generating property tax revenue. All of the revenue generated by property tax stays within Washington County. The tax information is provided to the Treasurer for the production of the tax roll. To understand how your taxes are calculated click on the below.

 Tax Valuation Information

Public Records

The Assessor’s Office is also responsible for the administration of all property records, including ownership and mapping data. Almost all of the records in the Assessor’s Office are open to the public. Exceptions to this are personal property declarations and any income/expense data provided by commercial property owners. There are plat map books and ownership records dating back to the county’s inception in 1887 in the assessor’s office.