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Board orders $56,992 refund after accepting assessor's $3M personal-property adjustment for Indian Hot Springs
Summary
After an abatement hearing, the board accepted the assessor's adjustment removing $3,000,000 in personal property from the Indian Hot Springs assessment, ordering a 2025 tax refund of $56,992.40 prorated to jurisdictions.
The Clear Creek County Board of County Commissioners on July 22 approved an abatement and refund related to the Indian Hot Springs property (IHSRE LLC), accepting the county assessor's recommendation to reduce the assessed value by the $3,000,000 in personal property reported on the transfer declaration.
Tax agent Darla Jamio, representing IHSRE LLC, argued the sale was non-arm's-length (a transfer between related parties) and submitted a third-party appraisal that allocated $9.9 million to real estate and identified additional tangible and intangible business value. Jamio said the assessor had relied on a private transfer as a single transaction and urged the board to consider the appraisal's allocations.
The county assessor (speaker 7) told the board the assessor's office had initially marked the transfer as a valid sale within the county's time frame but reduced the assessed value to account for the $3,000,000 of personal property after receiving the owner's backup documentation. The assessor said the office lacked supporting documentation for a full income approach and used the recorded transaction and property characteristics to reach a defensible value.
Commissioners discussed whether additional evidence or a breakdown of intangible and water-right values should be provided; the tax agent said the full appraisal (several hundred pages) had been submitted, though the assessor said she had not been provided a page-level breakdown of intangible allocations. After discussion, the board voted to accept the assessor's recommendation and ordered a refund of 2025 taxes in the amount of $56,992.40, prorated among jurisdictions receiving payment.
The board also reopened the matter as its Board of Equalization to adjust the 2026 assessed value in advance of billing and approved the assessor's recommended adjustment to reduce the property's assessed value by the reported personal property amount for the upcoming tax year.
What the board decided: accept assessor's adjustment removing $3,000,000 of personal property from the property record and order a refund of $56,992.40 for 2025 taxes; adjust the 2026 assessed value accordingly. The matter will be forwarded to the Department of Property Taxation per statutory requirements for approval.
