Colorado's 2026 Property Tax Hike, Explained

Quick answer: Colorado property tax bills rose in 2026 because two things changed at once: a temporary $55,000 value discount from 2024 expired, and the state split the assessment rate, raising the school-funding share from 6.70% to 7.05% while dropping the rest to 6.25% (source: CPR.org, Feb 2026). For most homeowners the school increase outweighed the other cut. On a $500,000 Colorado home, that pushed the bill from about $2,360 to $2,680, an increase of more than 13.6% (source: CPR.org, Feb 2026). Your actual number depends on your county's mill levy, so check your real notice.

Why Your Bill Actually Went Up

If you own a home in Longmont, Loveland, Berthoud, or Firestone, you already know your property tax bill went up this year. Here's what actually happened.

Two things changed at the state level, and both pushed your number higher. First, a temporary $55,000 discount on your home's taxable value, put in place in 2024, expired. Your home is being taxed on its real value again. Second, Colorado split the assessment rate that decides how much of your value actually gets taxed. The share that funds schools rose from 6.70% to 7.05%. The share that funds everything else, your city, county, and fire district, actually dropped to 6.25% (source: CPR.org, Feb 2026). On paper, that looks close to a wash. For most homeowners, it wasn't. The school increase outweighed the other cut.

One more detail worth knowing if you're comparing notes with a neighbor in a different town. Longmont sits in Boulder County. Loveland, Berthoud, and Firestone touch Larimer and Weld County. Same state formula, different local mill levy. Two identically priced homes in different towns will not owe the same bill.

Here's the part that trips people up: the assessment rate isn't your tax rate; it's the step before it. Your county takes your home's actual value, multiplies it by that assessment rate to get a smaller "assessed value," and then applies the local mill levy to that smaller number. Raise the assessment rate even a fraction of a percent, and every taxing entity that draws from it, your school district included, collects more without anyone voting on a new tax. That's why a change that sounds tiny on paper, 6.70% to 7.05%, showed up as a real number on your actual notice.

None of this happened because your county assessor decided your house is suddenly worth more. Assessed value and market value are two different questions. The state formula change is what moved your bill. Your home's actual value is a separate conversation, and one worth having if you're thinking about selling or refinancing this year.

What This Actually Costs You

Per CPR.org's February 2026 reporting, a $500,000 Colorado home saw its property tax bill climb from about $2,360 to $2,680, an increase of more than 13.6% in a single year, with no reassessment and no renovation involved (source: CPR.org, Feb 2026). Scale that toward a typical Longmont price point, closer to $600,000, and you're looking at a real increase of a few hundred dollars a year. A Loveland price point, closer to $500,000, lines up almost exactly with the CPR number above.

I want to be straight with you here. I'm not going to hand you one number and tell you that's your bill, because it isn't. Your mill levy is specific to your neighborhood, and the only number that actually matters is the one printed on your notice.

A few hundred dollars a year sounds small until you break it down the way a lender does. If your taxes are escrowed into your mortgage, that increase doesn't arrive as one annual bill you can plan around. It gets spread across your next 12 monthly payments, all at once, usually with a notice from your servicer that reads like bad news even when the math is straightforward. Knowing your real number now means that letter doesn't catch you off guard later.

If you want a second set of eyes on your specific number, that's exactly the kind of thing worth a quick call. No charge, no pressure; I just don't want you finding this out the hard way. Call or text 720-741-7474, or grab time at movingtolongmont.com/calendar.

When the Bill Actually Lands

Bills went out in January 2026. Full payment was due April 30, or you could split it into two installments: March 2 and June 15. If you haven't checked your notice yet, go pull it now. A lot of homeowners find out about an increase like this the hard way, through a mortgage escrow shortage letter months later, when the monthly payment jumps without warning.

If you pay taxes directly instead of through escrow, mark next year's dates now rather than waiting for a reminder postcard. If you're on the two-installment schedule, budget for both dates separately. A missed second installment can trigger interest and, eventually, a lien, even though the amount involved may be modest. It's an easy problem to avoid and an annoying one to clean up after the fact.

Selling This Fall? Here's What Changed

If you're listing in Northern Colorado this fall, this new number is part of your story now. Buyers are doing real math on their monthly payment, and the market has shifted enough toward balance that they have room to negotiate (per Colorado Association of Realtors, May and June 2026 reports). A buyer who catches a tax number you didn't mention just found leverage at your kitchen table. Know your new number before you list, not after a buyer's lender brings it up first. And if you personally qualify for one of the exemptions below, confirm it's actually applied. I've seen sellers sitting a full tax year behind because nobody filed the paperwork.

It's also worth putting your current, correct tax number directly in your listing materials rather than leaving a buyer's agent to pull an old figure off the county site or a stale portal listing. A precise number, printed clearly, reads as confidence. A vague one, or worse, a wrong one that surfaces during underwriting, reads as something you were hoping nobody would check.

Buying Right Now? Don't Trust the Listing Sheet

If you're buying, don't trust the tax number sitting on the listing sheet. That's often old data, sometimes years old, and it can make a home look cheaper to carry than it actually is. Pull the current number directly from the county assessor before you fall in love with a monthly payment that isn't real: the Boulder County Assessor's site, or the Larimer or Weld County equivalent depending on where you're looking. Both are public, free, and take about two minutes.

This matters most on the homes that look like the best deal on paper. A lower listed tax number, whether it's outdated or reflects a homestead exemption you won't personally qualify for, can make a stretch purchase look comfortable in a lender's pre-approval math. Run the current, real number through your own budget before you write an offer, not after your first payment lands. If you want help stress-testing the whole monthly payment, not just the tax line, see what salary you actually need to buy in Longmont right now.

The New Construction Tax Surprise (And What a Metro District Actually Is)

New construction carries its own tax trap that almost nobody explains at closing. A lot of new builds get their first tax bill assessed on land value only, since the county hasn't recorded the finished home yet. That number looks great on paper. Then the certificate of occupancy gets filed, the county catches up, and your second-year bill jumps to reflect the actual finished home. Before you write an offer on new construction in Longmont or Firestone, ask your builder or title company what the assessed value looks like once the home is fully on record, not just what the spec sheet shows. Ask to see the assessor's current record on two or three comparable finished homes in the same community. That gets you closer to the real number than anything on the listing.

Some of these newer communities carry something else on top of all this: a metro district. A metro district is a special taxing district the developer sets up to pay for the roads, water lines, sewer, and other infrastructure the community needed before a single house could go up. Instead of the developer eating that cost, it gets financed with bonds, and those bonds get paid back over time through an extra mill levy stacked right on top of your regular property tax.

That extra levy doesn't show up in the listing price, and it's easy to miss unless you go looking for it. Colorado requires a metro district disclosure before you close, so ask for it early, not the week before closing, and find out where that district actually is in its bond payoff schedule. A newer district with years left on its bonds costs a lot more than one that's close to paid off. Not every new community has one, but enough do that it's worth asking the question before you fall in love with the house.

If you're weighing new construction against a resale home and want the real carrying cost on both, that's a conversation worth having before you write an offer, not after. Call or text 720-741-7474, or grab time at movingtolongmont.com/calendar.

Two Exemptions Worth a Phone Call

Most people I talk to have never heard of either of these.

If you're 65 or older, Colorado's senior homestead exemption cuts your taxable value in half on the first $200,000 of your home's value. In Boulder County, you qualify if you were born on or before January 1, 1961, and you've owned and lived in the home as your primary residence since before 2016.

If you're a veteran with a 100% permanent VA disability rating, Colorado offers the same 50% break on the first $200,000 of value, provided you own and live in the home as your primary residence.

Both application windows for this tax year have already closed: the senior window and the veteran deadline, which was July 1. If either applies to you, get on your county's notification list now so you're first in line when the window reopens. These exemptions don't apply themselves. They take a phone call.

One more thing worth knowing if you're helping an aging parent or in-law with their home: the senior exemption follows the person, not the property, and it only applies to a primary residence. If they've moved into a different Longmont or Loveland home more recently than the ownership window allows, or if the home is a second property, it won't qualify. Worth checking before you assume the savings are already baked into their bill.

The Appeal Reality

Every year, counties open a formal window to protest your assessed value, typically May through early June. If that window has already passed for this cycle and you did protest, most counties give you until mid-September to escalate to the county Board of Equalization. If you never protested, mark your calendar. The next window opens in May.

When that window does open, the appeal that actually works is a comparable-sales appeal, not a complaint about the percentage increase. The assessment rate is set by the state and isn't something your county can undo for you individually. What you can dispute is your home's assessed value itself, using recent, genuinely comparable sales in your immediate area as evidence. Pulling three or four honest comps, not the two cheapest sales you can find, is worth doing before that window opens rather than during the last week of it.

One thing isn't seasonal, though. If your county has your square footage, lot size, or bedroom count wrong on record, that's a factual error, not a value dispute, and most assessors will fix it any time of year, no window required. That's worth five minutes with your actual notice, even outside protest season.

Local Context

This post covers 2026 property tax notices for Longmont and Berthoud (Boulder County) and Loveland and Firestone (Larimer and Weld County), using the actual January 2026 mailed notices and CPR.org's February 2026 statewide reporting. Mill levies differ by county even under the same state formula, which is why two homes at the same price don't always owe the same bill. If you're comparing a move between towns, that difference is worth factoring into your monthly payment math the same way you'd factor in commute or schools.

Questions This Post Answers

Why did my property tax bill go up in Colorado in 2026?

Two things changed. A temporary $55,000 value discount from 2024 expired, and the state split the assessment rate, raising the school-funding share from 6.70% to 7.05% while lowering the rest to 6.25% (source: CPR.org, Feb 2026). For most homeowners, the school increase outweighed the other cut.

How much did property taxes go up in Colorado for 2026?

A $500,000 Colorado home saw its bill rise from about $2,360 to $2,680, an increase of more than 13.6% in one year (source: CPR.org, Feb 2026). The exact number depends on your county's mill levy, so check your actual notice rather than a headline percentage.

When are Colorado property taxes due in 2026?

Bills were mailed in January 2026. Full payment was due April 30, or you could split it into two installments, March 2 and June 15.

Is there a property tax exemption for seniors in Colorado?

Yes. Homeowners 65 or older, born on or before January 1, 1961, who have owned and lived in their home since before 2016, qualify for the senior homestead exemption, 50% off the first $200,000 of value. A parallel exemption exists for veterans with a 100% permanent VA disability rating.

Can I still appeal my Colorado property tax assessment?

The annual protest window runs May through early June and is closed once that window passes for the year. Factual errors, like wrong square footage or lot size, can be corrected any time of year by calling the county assessor directly.

About Noah

Noah Inhofer is a Realtor with eXp Realty, based in Longmont and serving the broader Northern Colorado corridor, including Berthoud, Loveland, Erie, and Firestone. He's been licensed for 10 years (CO License #100037453) and works both sides of the table, as a listing agent and a buyer's agent, which he calls his edge in negotiation since he understands what both sides are weighing at the same time. He holds 100+ five-star Google reviews, has been featured on The American Dream TV, and appeared on the cover of Denver Homeowner Magazine's "Top Influential Real Estate Leaders" issue. He also built Living In Longmont, a YouTube channel that gives buyers, sellers, and people relocating to Northern Colorado the honest version of a town before they ever call him.

Let's Talk About Your Number

Want your specific 2026 tax notice read in plain English? I'll walk through it with you, no charge, no pressure, whether you're in Longmont, Loveland, Berthoud, Firestone, or anywhere else in Northern Colorado. Call or text 720-741-7474, or grab time at movingtolongmont.com/calendar. See what other Longmont and Loveland clients say about working with Noah.