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Broomfield staff: homeowners may see higher bills even as city property tax revenue falls
Summary
City finance staff told council that recent state assessment changes and falling commercial valuations will reduce Broomfield's retained property tax revenue by an estimated $6.5 million beginning in 2026, even as many homeowners'bills rise. Staff urged data-driven land-use decisions and outlined next steps in the long-range financial plan.
Mister Clark, the city's finance lead, told the council that changes to state assessment rules and a drop in commercial property valuations have combined to create a counterintuitive effect this year: many homeowners will see their tax notices increase even while the city and county's retained property tax revenue declines.
"Broomfield is experiencing a period where residential tax bills are rising while CCOB revenue decreases," Clark said, and he quantified the impact: "Beginning in 2026 . . . we will see a $6,500,000 reduction to our budget. This is now the new base which we will see each year."
The presentation walked the council through the three key components that determine local property tax revenue: market valuation, state-controlled assessment rates and mill levy distribution. Clark emphasized that assessment rates and many distribution rules are set by the state and not by local government, and he pointed the council to the Gallagher-related changes and the temporary adjustments that have made year-to-year forecasting volatile.
Using a sample bill based on the city manager's assessed value, Clark showed how school districts capture a majority of property tax dollars and how municipal retained revenue can fall even when total bills rise. "A property tax bill going up does not automatically mean that Broomfield receives more revenue," he said.
Council members asked technical questions about revaluation timing, the removal of the $50,000 actual value adjustment, and the projected assessment rates for schools and local government in 2026. Assessor Jaye Moschta explained that the community revalues in May of odd-numbered years and noted that the legislature's recent changes, plus software delays, complicated the timing of tax notices this year.
Clark said the city has already built the $6.5 million reduction into the 2026 budget and will continue the conversation as part of the multi-chapter long-range financial plan. "We are confident that we have made structural changes," he said, while warning that the community will see the implications as the remaining budget chapters are developed.
The next detailed step will be a long-range financial plan update set to come before council next month, where staff will model potential sales-tax and development scenarios that might mitigate the structural pressure on property-tax-derived funding for services such as police, public works, human services and parks.
What's next: staff will bring the long-range financial plan and the remaining fiscal "chapters" to the council through the budget process; residents with questions about individual tax notices were referred to the assessor and the city's online resources.
