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County GIS finds 3,600 new building outlines; county says some detections will raise assessed values
Summary
Montezuma County GIS staff said a new Pictometry dataset revealed about 3,600 previously unrecorded building outlines (560 over 750 sq ft) that will be merged with county planimetric mapping; staff said such detections will prompt appraiser follow-up and could increase assessed values for unreported structures.
Montezuma County GIS staff (Speaker 8) said the county received a Pictometry building-outline dataset that identified roughly 3,600 new buildings, of which 'only 560 of those are greater than 750 square feet,' and that staff are classifying those outlines against the county's planimetric mapping to determine whether structures were previously unreported.
"There was 3,600 new buildings. Only, 560 of those are greater than 750 square feet," GIS staff said, noting that larger or habitable structures could be higher priority for appraisers. County officials said the merged dataset will help appraisers target field work and ensure properties not previously on the tax roll are identified.
GIS staff also described discussions with Empire Electric about hosting a generalized, non-sensitive dataset of utility-line information on county servers so outside researchers and local stakeholders can obtain necessary information without repeatedly requesting data directly from the utility. The GIS presentation emphasized that the county will classify building types (residential, mobile home, commercial, outbuilding) before appraisers adjust assessed values.
Commissioners and the assessor discussed fairness and tax equity: one commissioner said that if a building was not reported previously and is now discovered, "your valuation is gonna go up. Therefore, your taxes will go up," and framed the work as leveling the playing field among property owners.
No formal enforcement or assessment adjustments were recorded during the workshop; staff said the dataset will be used to prioritize appraiser inspections and to update mapping resources.
