Colfax County assessor reports taxable‑value gains; commissioners request a five‑year expense growth comparison

At the Colfax County budget workshop, the county assessor reported recent increases in the county tax base and commissioners asked staff for multiyear comparisons to guide budget cuts.

The assessor told the commission that in 2023 the county’s taxable value increased by $47 million — from roughly $636 million to $736 million — and that, in the current year, the assessor’s office had increased valuations by about $29 million. "We increased the taxable value $47,000,000 ... This year ... we are up 29,000,000," the assessor said while explaining valuation work, including sales activity in Angel Fire.

Commissioner Weir and others said a five‑year comparison of recurring versus nonrecurring expense growth would be a useful basis to allocate cuts and avoid penalizing departments that have been frugal. "If you say you have that 5 year comparison, that would, to me, would be a good basis for determining that," Commissioner Weir said, asking Ty to work with him to prepare that analysis for the next workshop.

The commission asked Ty to prepare the requested five‑year comparison and to break out recurring expense growth from one‑time items so the group could better weigh cuts by growth patterns rather than simply applying a flat percentage across departments.

Next steps: Ty said she would prepare the analysis and be in the courthouse Monday morning to update spreadsheets for the Tuesday workshop.