To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: David L. Corliss, Town Manager
Trish Muller, Finance Director
Title
Ordinance Levying General Property Taxes for the Year 2017, for 2018 Collection, for the Town of Castle Rock, Colorado (Second Reading - Approved on First Reading on September 19, 2017 by a vote of 6-0)
Body
________________________________________________________________________________
Ordinance was approved on First Reading on September 19, 2017 with a vote of 6-0 with changes as follows:
Changes to the Ordinance have been made for the Second Reading and include the incorporation of the final assessed valuation information received from the Douglas County Assessor’s Office dated November 20, 2017 (Attachment B).
Executive Summary
Attached is the Ordinance establishing the Mill Levy of the Town of Castle Rock collection in 2018 (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
Property taxes are placed solely in the Town’s General Fund which supports core Town services including Police and Fire. This year the total preliminary taxable assessed value for the Town of Castle Rock has increased approximately $133.7 million dollars, or 17% 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 1.330 and total property tax revenue of approximately $1.2 million for the Town. This proposed mill levy rate is a reduction of approximately 10% from 2017 and is necessary to remain in compliance with the Castle Rock Municipal Code. The table below demonstrates the gradual reduction of the mill levy rate since 2004.
Financial Impact
As the final assessed valuation is received and certified in December, the resulting property tax revenue will be reflected in 2018.
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommend that Town Council approve this Ordinance as written.
Proposed Motion
I move to approve An Ordinance Levying General Property Taxes for the Year 2017, for 2018 Collection, for the Town of Castle Rock, Colorado.
Attachments
Attachment A: Ordinance (First Reading)
Attachment A: Ordinance (Second Reading)
Attachment B: 2017 Certification of Valuation