Garfield County Treasurer Carrie (last name not specified in the record) briefed commissioners on a third-party escrow service designed to allow property owners to pay property taxes in installments without imposing operational costs on county government.
The treasurer said she and peers in El Paso and Larimer counties worked with the county's tax processor, which already serves 49 Colorado counties, and that the processor can operate an opt-in third-party escrow to create installment plans for taxpayers. "Technically, we could already do that. We have something in place that could do that," she said, and added that El Paso County already has a live arrangement.
She said participation is voluntary for taxpayers and does not require county action: "Each county opts in on their own, and how that works is that they base the installments on the current year's taxes on an average. And then when the new tax roll comes on, they adjust that to make the new tax roll. The processor, remits the tax payment on time. It doesn't affect the tax affect the taxing authorities."
The treasurer described the private provider as Escrow Taxes, underwritten by Huntington National Bank, and said fees depend on payment method: about $1 for an eCheck per payment and $2.50 for card payments; she estimated that someone using eCheck might pay about $12 extra a year in fees, depending on the number of installments. "They're underwritten by Huntington National Bank," she said.
She framed the plan as a way to avoid an unfunded mandate: county staff had been concerned that proposed state legislation on installment plans could cost Garfield County about $100,000 to implement or more; using a third-party escrow reduces or eliminates that local cost: "So we think we've come up with a free market solution to avoid the counties costing a lot of money."
The presentation was informational; commissioners asked clarifying questions about fees and participation but did not take formal action. The treasurer noted the service is live in other counties and that customers may sign up directly without county administration.
Other details provided in the meeting: the treasurer reported the public trustee fund had net revenue negative $7,484.42 for the quarter but that the county held $289,482.43 in a CaliTrust account to cover that deficit, and that the county had 29 foreclosures to date.