(COLORADO SPRINGS) — Homeowners in El Paso County protested their property valuations in record numbers after the assessor’s office showed the value of some homes doubling, meaning their property taxes would do the same.

“We hadn’t seen a level that high since the 1980s, it was about ten times, eight to 10 times what we would normally see,” said El Paso County Assessor, Mark Flutcher.

Property valuations are issued by the El Paso County Assessor’s office every other year, and petitions are not uncommon. Usually, around 3,000-4,000 appeals come in, but this year the office says they received almost 34,000 petitions.

The assessor’s office said that around 50% of these petitions (~17,000) were adjusted by an average of 6.77%. Homeowners who were hoping for a break on their bills didn’t see a drastic decrease, for the same reason why these valuations were so high in the first place.

“The best term I’ve heard to refer to it is the unicorn years. Property values were going really high, really fast, interest rates were dropping really low, and it just kind of created this perfect storm of ascending property values,” said Joshua Bernhard, a real estate agent for 8z Real Estate.

This year’s property valuations are based on a snapshot of the market at the end of 2021, and the beginning of 2022. So, when the assessors received these petitions, they aren’t allowed to consider any market factors after June 2022.

“It caused people a lot of concern because they’re looking at what’s happening currently. They’re not looking back a year to what was happening in the first half of ’22… Our valuations are based on appraisal data that was at the height of that market,” said Flutcher.

Realtors say these valuations will impact those with the tightest budgets.

“If they had a mortgage that was right at the top of what they could afford, they’re probably going to be more motivated to sell,” said Bernhard.

While the sticker shock of the valuations this year rattled homeowners in El Paso County, realtors say we should be adapting to the growing local economy.

“This is something I think that is going to be kind of a little bit more typical going forward… Right now, the Colorado Springs market is still a very desirable market,” said Bernhard.

For people that did file petitions and were not happy with those adjustments, July 17 was the final day to file an appeal to the appeal. The next property valuations will be released in 2025, and will be based on the market at the end of this year and the beginning of 2024.