Garfield County Assessor Jim Yalico reported to the Board of County Commissioners that the county's 2025 assessed valuation fell about 19% from 2024, primarily because of a sharp decline in oil and gas valuations.
Yalico said the county received 536 real-property protests during the appeal period this year compared with 1,923 in 2023, and that staff adjusted 276 protests, denied 260 and voided 8. "We had 276 protests that we adjusted. We denied 260 of them. 8 of them were voided," he said.
The assessor said total assessed real property value (not including state-assessed property or possessory interests that will be finalized at the County Board of Equalization hearings) is about $1,686,428,070, an increase of 13% for non-state-assessed real property compared with 2024. But he said the county's oil and gas assessed value as of July 14 is $824,837,090, a 38% decrease from last year, and that the combined total assessed valuation for the county currently stands at $2,362,882,170, down roughly 19% from 2024.
Yalico noted one very large oil-and-gas protest produced a large adjustment: "That's a really big number for, for 536 protests. But 1 of them was a really large oil and gas protest. So oil and gas is a little different. They self report their value, and then we work with them on that." He said work with the company uncovered an error in the reported value that showed up as an adjustment in the appeal period.
Commissioners asked about timing and how the numbers will be finalized. Yalico said the assessor's abstract delivered on August 25 will provide the county's final numbers after the CBOE hearings and after state-assessed property entries are posted: "August 25 will be that'll be our final number as far as what we think our revenues are. ... The abstract in the 20 fifth is that's the number that it should be."
The board discussed the revenue implications in general terms but did not take action. Yalico noted the decline in oil and gas value will affect parts of the county west of New Castle more heavily, while non-oil-and-gas real property values have risen: "This is for the whole county. ... the real property value actually increased 13% for homes and non oil and gas things." The assessor reminded commissioners that state-assessed property values and other adjustments may still affect the final totals at the CBOE hearings.
The report was presented as information only; there was no motion or vote tied to it at the meeting.
Less-critical details: Yalico said the CBOE hearings start next week and that the assessor's office expects more protests to arrive by the filing deadline; at the time of his report six protests were scheduled for hearing but the number had increased to about 10 by the end of that morning.