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Montezuma County commissioners deny two property tax abatement requests
Summary
At their Sept. 23 meeting the Montezuma County Board of Commissioners denied abatement petitions for two properties after hearing disputes about purge/unpurge timelines and whether reclassifications should be applied retroactively to tax year 2024.
The Montezuma County Board of County Commissioners on Sept. 23 denied two property tax abatement petitions, concluding the county’s tax roll and timelines governing purges and reclassifications precluded retroactive refunds for tax year 2024.
Petitioners including a property owner identified as Miss Cavalier asked the board to retroactively reclassify a parcel that had been “purged” (separating a manufactured home from a real-property account) so taxes payable in 2025 would reflect the property’s unpurged status for 2024. She told the board the county received unpurge documentation in July and that she had paid $1,313.87 and expected the 2024 obligation to be closer to $150. The county’s assessor, Leslie Bugg, said the owners requested the purge on Nov. 30, 2023, for financing purposes and the assessor granted a purge that applied to the 2024 tax year after notices of determination were issued. Bugg told the board the assessor’s office did not receive paperwork to unpurge until Dec. 18, 2024, after the 2024 tax roll had been completed. Bugg said that, if the board had granted the abatement for 2024, the reduction would have been about $220.61.
For a second petition filed for the property at 101 S. Fifth St., Dolores, the petitioners (identified as Anthony and Marie Roan) did not appear. Bugg told the board that the assessor’s office sent an appraiser in March 2025 and reclassified that property as 80% commercial and 20% residential for 2025 going forward; she recommended leaving 2024 as previously assessed because the correction took effect after the 2024 tax roll was finalized.
After questions and discussion about assessment timing, mills in the Dolores School District, and the practical difference between a purge/unpurge and a later district mill increase, the board moved and seconded to deny both abatement requests. Commissioners voted in the affirmative; both petitions were denied.
Why it matters: petitioners sought refunds tied to classification changes that they say were delayed by administrative hurdles; the assessor’s office said tax-roll timing meant the 2024 levy was final when unpurge paperwork arrived.
The board’s denial does not foreclose administrative or judicial appeals available under state rules; the assessor said a denial may be appealed to the Board of Assessment Appeals.
