Your El Paso County tax bill: the assessor values, the treasurer collects

A property tax bill in El Paso County passes through two offices that do different jobs. The Assessor’s job is to find, list, and value property. The Treasurer’s job is to send the bill and collect the money. If you are arguing about what your home is worth, that is the assessor. If you are paying, or asking about a payment, that is the treasurer.

The amount on the bill comes from two things put together: the value the assessor sets, and the mill levy. A mill levy is a tax rate, and the catch is that your land usually sits inside several taxing districts at once — the county, a school district, maybe a fire district, a water or metro district, and more. Each adds its own piece. Your total levy is all of those stacked together, which is why two similar homes a few miles apart can owe different amounts.

This note does not list any rate, because rates change every year and vary by location. The point is to know how the bill is built and who to call.

For your parcel’s value and the districts that tax it, start with the El Paso County Assessor and Treasurer.