To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: Trish Muller, Finance Director
Title
Ordinance: Levying General Property Taxes for the Year 2015, for 2016 Collection, for the Town of Castle Rock, Colorado and the Castle Rock Downtown Development Authority (Second Reading)
Body
________________________________________________________________________________
The Ordinance was approved on first reading on November 3, 2015 with a vote of 5 to 0 with the following changes. Changes have been made for the second reading of the ordinance and include the incorporation of the final assessed valuations received from the Douglas County Assessor’s Office.
Executive Summary
Attached is the Ordinance establishing the Mill Levies of the Town of Castle Rock and the Castle Rock Downtown Development Authority for collection in 2016 (Attachment A). In August, the County Assessor certifies the Total Value of all Personal and Real Property in the Town. This value is used to calculate the mill levy rate that was presented in the proposed budget. In December, the County Assessor recertifies the Total Value of Real and Personal Property.
Discussion
This year the total taxable assessed value for the Town of Castle Rock has increased approximately $136.1 million dollars, or 22% from the previous year’s certified total in November. Per the Colorado revised state statutes 29-01-301 (1) (a), all statutory tax levies for collection in 1989 and thereafter when applied to the total valuation for assessment of the state, each of the counties, cities, and towns not chartered as home rule shall be so reduced as to prohibit the levying of a greater amount of revenue than was levied in the prior year plus five and one-half percent. Castle Rock Municipal Code also states that the Town shall levy no more than the amount of revenue that was levied in the preceding year plus five and one-half percent. This results in a mill levy rate of 1.474 and total property tax revenue of approximately $1.1 million for the Town.
This proposed mill levy rate is lower than 2015 and has decreased steadily since 2004 as the following table demonstrates:
|
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009-2015 |
2016 |
2004-2016 Change |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2.058 |
1.895 |
1.896 |
1.898 |
1.705 |
1.703 |
1.474 |
28.4% |
|
* Collection year shown on taxes levied from the prior year |
|
|
In addition, the Castle Rock Downtown Development Authority Board of Directors has requested Town Council to certify its respective mill levy of 3.000 mills, which, based on the assessed valuation provided by the Douglas County Assessor’s Office increased by $5.4 million or about 13% and is anticipated to yield approximately $140,549, an increase of $16,321 over the previous year.
Financial Impact
As the final assessed valuation is certified in December, the resulting property tax revenue will be reflected in 2016.
Staff Recommendation
Staff and the Castle Rock Downtown Development Authority Board of Directors recommend that Town Council approve this Ordinance as written.
Proposed Motion
I move to Approve An Ordinance Levying General Property Taxes for the Year 2015, for 2016 Collection, for the Town of Castle Rock, Colorado and the Castle Rock Downtown Development Authority, second reading.
Attachments
Attachment A: Ordinance