County commissioners ratify independent referees' decisions in annual equalization hearings

PUEBLO, Colo. — The Pueblo County Board of Commissioners on Aug. 5 approved a resolution declaring that the recommendations of independent hearing officers for the county Board of Equalization (BOE) will stand as the board's final action.

Gavin, a county staff member, told commissioners that the county's annual BOE schedule compresses a large number of contested property hearings into a short window and that confirming the referees' recommendations preserves orderly appeal rights. “Each year in May, the assessor sends out a notice of valuation to each property owner in the county,” Gavin said, noting the notices are used to calculate property taxes and that appeals can be filed as late as July 15.

Gavin provided statistics for this year's process: five hearing officers conducted 110 hearings covering 1,415 parcels; 45 cases were resolved by stipulation with the assessor, 16 were administratively denied at the protestor's request, 29 cases resulted in reductions, and 83 were denied. He said state law allows taxpayers to appeal county decisions to the State Board of Assessment Appeals, which conducts de novo hearings by phone or Zoom.

The resolution affirms the county's appointment of independent referees and avoids the practical challenge of the board reopening each contested hearing within the statutory deadlines. County staff and Gavin singled out Michelle Wiseman for scheduling and processing more than a hundred hearings over several weeks.

Commissioners voted to adopt the resolution; the motion passed with unanimous assent on the record. The decisions will be mailed to protesting taxpayers with written information about appeal rights and the process to pursue further review at the state level.

The action does not change the underlying figures in cases that were resolved by stipulation; it confirms the referees' decisions so that the formal appeal pathways remain available to taxpayers.