HB24-1302 Mill Levy Public Information

Pursuant to 39-1-125 C.R.S.

Process Overview

HB24-1302 requires local governments that levy property tax to provide specific mill levy information to counties when they certify their mill levies by December 15 as part of the budget process in 39-1-125 (1) (a) CRS. Counties are then required to coordinate with DOLA to ensure that the mill levy information of property taxing entities is publicly available. The following is an overview of the entire process, with additional specific guidance for counties and local governments.

• Taxing entities are required to provide mill levy information to their counties (Boards of County Commissioners) along with mill levy certification in December. DOLA has determined the process (described in the County Guidance section below) by September 1, 2024.
  • See Local Government Guidance below for a list of the required information.
    • Counties should determine which process works best for them to get the mill levy information from taxing entities:
      • One process option is to ask entities to fill out DOLA’s Mill Levy Public Information Form and send it to the county. The county will then compile all the county entities’ information into a spreadsheet and upload it to DOLA’s County Portal. 
      • Using DOLA’s Mill Levy Public Information form is not required and at the discretion of the county. Other process options include using a proprietary mill levy reporting system, email, or Google Forms. As long as counties can collect the required information from each taxing entity and verify the sender, counties can use their own process to compile the required mill levy information for all county taxing entities into a spreadsheet to be uploaded to DOLA’s County Portal.
    • Counties should communicate the process to local governments on how to report mill levy information to the county by the suggested deadline of December 1, 2024 so that local governments can be prepared to go through the new process.
    • Local governments are required to report mill levy info along with their mill levy certification to counties by December 15, 2024.
• Counties will compile the mill levy information to be entered into the County Portal by December 22, 2024.
  • Counties will need to enter or upload a spreadsheet of all the mill levy information, data format provided below in County Guidance section. 
  • The spreadsheet can be generated by their database software or edited manually in Excel.
  • Further instructions will follow after OIT upgrades are completed for the County Portal. 
• DOLA will automatically publish the information online to the Local Government Information System for public access once the county spreadsheet upload is complete.

Local Government Guidance

HB24-1302 requires local governments that levy property tax to provide the following information to counties when they certify mill levies by December 15 as part of the budget process:

• Mill Levy Rate (Mills)
• Previous Year Mill Levy Rate (Mills)
• Previous Year Mill Levy Revenue Collected
• Mill Levy Maximum
• Allowable Annual Growth in Mill Levy Revenue
• Actual Growth in Mill Levy Revenue
• Is revenue from this mill levy allowed to be retained and spent as a voter-approved revenue change pursuant to section 20 (7)(b) of Article X of the State Constitution (TABOR)?
• Is revenue from this mill levy subject to the Statutory Property Tax (5.5%) Limit in 29-1-301 C.R.S.?
• Is revenue from this mill levy subject to any other limit on annual revenue growth enacted by the local government or another local government?
• Does the mill levy need to be adjusted or does a temporary mill levy reduction need to be used in order to collect a certain amount of revenue? If Yes, what is the amount?
• Other information

Information does not need to be provided for levies for the total amount of abatements and refunds certified by the County Assessor (abatement levies pursuant to 39-10-114(1)(a)(I)(B) C.R.S.). 

In order to provide this information, local government staff may need to perform legal and election research. DOLA recommends reviewing the history of ballot questions about the local governments mill levy or revenue limits such as the Statutory Property Tax (5.5%) Limit, TABOR fiscal year spending limit, TABOR property tax revenue limit in addition to any specific local revenue limits that may apply. DOLA also recommends discussing the mill levy public information with the local government’s attorney. Local government staff, board members, in addition to former staff and board members may be able to provide historical information.

Below is a list of suggested resources that may help local government staff provide the required mill levy information.

• Previous year and historical mill levies
  • Local government’s historic financial, budget,and election, tax records
  • Some historical budgets and property tax information filed by local governments are available on DOLA’s Local Government Information System
  • The Division of Property Taxation’s Annual Reports are also available going back to 1912.
• For information about whether a local government is subject to the Statutory Property Tax (5.5%) Limit in 29-1-301 C.R.S., review the Division of Local Government’s list of entities subject to the 5.5% limit.
• For information on locally enacted revenue limits, review governing documents such as board resolutions/ordinances, code and home-rule charter if applicable, and other policy documents that could discuss locally imposed revenue limits. 
• Election results and ballot question history
  • Local governments should retain election results and ballot questions indefinitely, but in case those records are not available:
    • Contact the County Clerk in case the election was coordinated with the county and records were retained by the county.
    • Contact DLG for a search of archived local government filings.
    • Contact the local library to review newspaper archives around previous election days. Election notices and results may have been published in a local paper of record. 
    • If there is no history of ballot questions about the mill levy or revenue limits, the local government may need to assume that all statutory and constitutional revenue limits apply, such as the Statutory Property Tax (5.5%) Limit, TABOR fiscal year spending limit, and TABOR property tax revenue limit. In this case, local government staff should confer with the governing board and consult legal advice to determine which revenue limits apply to the local government. 

County Guidance

HB24-1302 requires local governments that levy property tax to provide specific mill levy information to counties when they certify their mill levies by December 15 as part of the budget process 39-1-125 (1) (a) CRS. Counties are then required to coordinate with DOLA to ensure that the mill levy information of property taxing entities is publicly available. DOLA is developing a process for counties to electronically file this information for each property taxing entity within the county. Counties are therefore responsible for two main steps in the mill levy information reporting process:

1. Counties receive the mill levy information along with the mill levy certification by December 15
   • Counties select a process option for collecting this information:
     • Counties can require local governments to complete DOLA’s Mill Levy Public Information Form along with the mill levy certification, although using the DOLA form is up to the County’s discretion. 
     • Instead of using a form, counties may determine a different process such as Google Forms or email to collect the same information for each local government.
     • Some counties have a specific electronic process for collecting certified mill levies and may determine a process to expand that functionality to receive the additional mill levy public information.
   • After selecting a process option for receiving the mill levy information, counties should communicate the selected process to all local governments by December 1 at the latest. DOLA recommends selecting a process and communicating the process to all local governments as soon as possible. 
2. Counties compile the mill levy information into a single spreadsheet for upload into DOLA’s County Portal
   • Each row should represent a taxing area which is identified with DOLA Local Government Identification Number (LGID) and a Subdistrict Number. Subdistrict Numbers are used to identify different taxing areas that apply to a single local government (e.g. a bond exclusion area). DOLA's website provides a list of taxing areas by county along with their LGID/Subdistrict Number, combined under the column named "Taxing Entity ID". Contact us if you require additional information. 
   • DOLA will make spreadsheet templates with pre populated local government names, LGIDs, and Subdistrict Numbers for each county available. 
   • DLG will be available to assist counties with assigning LGIDs and Subdistrict Numbers to taxing entities. 

Contact Information

Victor Chen, Local Government Finance and Research Analyst
303-864-7757
victor.chen@state.co.us