Arapahoe County commissioners decided at Monday’s meeting not to adopt a county‑level business personal property exemption for 2025 beyond the statutory exemption, a choice county staff said would retain an estimated $838,000 in preliminary revenue.

Assessor’s office staff briefed the board on taxable accounts and noted that, after state statutory exemptions, only a subset of commercial personal property accounts would be affected by any additional county exemption. The assessor’s presenter said there are about 23,600 total personal‑property accounts and roughly 10,000 of those are taxable after the state exemption is applied.

Finance staff provided a preliminary revenue estimate if the county were to maintain a $20,000 county exemption in addition to the state exemption. Todd Weaver (Finance) summarized the assessor’s data and the county math: the assessor’s preliminary values showed roughly $1,485,000,000 of personal property value; applying a $20,000 exemption changed the taxable base to about $1,432,000,000 (a difference of about $52,800,000). Weaver said multiplying that difference by the county mill rate yields an estimated county revenue impact of about $838,000 (figures described as preliminary and unaudited).

Why it matters: staff said the per‑business tax benefit of an additional $20,000 exemption is small; one presenter said the county‑level change would amount to roughly $80–$100 per affected business under the current preliminary mill rates. Commissioners noted administrative cost implications and the limited relief to individual small businesses versus the county’s competing one‑time spending needs.

Board decision and rationale: Commissioners discussed priorities for limited county funds and noted one‑time county needs and administrative costs of implementing an additional exemption. Commissioner Campbell said she would prefer to retain the revenue for county needs. The discussion concluded with the board agreeing not to take additional action; county staff characterized that outcome as “deciding not to do anything,” which preserves the preliminary $838,000 in county revenue instead of enacting a larger county exemption.

Treasurer and administration comments: Treasurer Michael Westerberg observed administrative time savings for the treasurer’s office if no additional exemption is implemented. Staff noted the state had increased the statutory exemption level in recent years, and county‑level decisions now affect a smaller set of businesses.

Ending: County staff will proceed without a county‑level personal‑property exemption for 2025; staff will continue to use certified assessor data as the assessment process completes and will return to the board if further action is required.