S T E A M B O AT
TODAY
TUESDAY
JULY 28, 2009
Steamboat Springs, Colorado
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Vol. 21, No. 179
RO U T T
C O U N T Y ’ S
DA I LY
N E W S PA P E R
S T E A M B O AT S P R I N G S
Space Station to reopen Locals aim to open gas station and convenience store in September Page 3
S T E A M B O AT S P R I N G S
Register at CMC across town New campaign offers college course registration at various locations Page 4
Tax appeals flood county
Commissioners forced to set daily Board of Equalization hearings
Corrections A photo on Page 3C of Sunday’s Pilot & Today misidentified runner Tom Nelson during Saturday’s Spring Creek Memorial 9-mile race. To see the photo and a correct caption, go to page 23. Becky Lamb and Meg Tully won the women’s 4.5 doubles division at the Steamboat Tennis Association Championships. Ali Diehl won the women’s 3.5 singles division. The story “Tennis tournament records largest field” on page 20 of Monday’s Steamboat Today incorrectly reported some of the winners.
Brandon Gee
PILOT & TODAY STAFF
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS
The Routt County Board of Commissioners is racing to complete appeal hearings regarding property valuations for tax purposes before an early August deadline. Perhaps a sign of the recession, the commissioners — sitting as the Routt County
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■ INDEX Briefs . . . . . . . . .10 Classifieds . . . . .26 Colorado. . . . . . .16 Comics . . . . . . . .24 Crossword . . . . .25 Happenings . . . . .7
JOHN F. RUSSELL/STAFF
Attorney John Vanderbloemen addresses the Routt County Board of Commissioners on Monday evening as South Routt landowner Brian Stahl, who was appealing his property tax valuation, listens. Routt County has seen a record number of assessment appeals this year — so many that the commissioners, acting as the Board of Equalization, are scheduled to hear 450 such appeals this year.
Horoscope . . . . .24 Nation. . . . . . . . .20 Scoreboard. . . . .23 Sports. . . . . . . . .21 ViewPoints . . . . . .8 Weather . . . . . . .19
Monday night’s Cash 5 numbers: 3-18-19-21-31 Drawings are held Monday through Saturday.
Board of Equalization — are scheduled to hear about 450 such appeals this year, which Commissioner Diane Mitsch Bush said is twice the usual amount. Most appeals are settled between property owners and the Routt County Assessor’s Office, never reaching the level of the commissioners. Last month, Assessor Mike Kerrigan said his department
■ WEATHER
Partly sunny with a storm. High of 74.
Page 19
has received about 2,800 property tax assessment appeals this year. The previous high, set in 2001, was 1,800 appeals, Kerrigan said. Officials think the record number of appeals is largely the result of a perfect storm for property value assessments for tax purposes. While Routt County residents are riding the wave of the recession — struggling to make ends meet and
watching their property values decline — their property valuations, and thus taxes, actually increased this year. The county’s total assessed property value jumped by 38 percent from 2008 to 2009. That’s because the mandated period of evaluation — the latter half of 2006 through the first half of 2008, captured See Appeals page 14
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