San Luis Valley
Costilla County
Property taxes, marriage licenses, vehicle services, and many public records run through Costilla County. Permits and local rules may sit with a town or city instead, so match the office to the exact address.
Official county shortcuts
Take the task to the office that handles it
These links go straight to the official county or regional office shown. Check that page for current documents, hours, appointments, fees, and address-specific instructions. A city may run its own permit office.
Property tax snapshot
Typical property tax in Costilla County
The average total mill levy across Costilla County was about 71.4 mills for tax year 2023 — below the statewide average of about 81 mills. On a $500,000 home, that comes to roughly $2,357 a year, using Colorado's 2026 residential rules: 7.05% on school mills, and 6.8% on the rest after the local actual-value adjustment.
This is the county average across all tax areas. Your parcel's actual mill levy depends on its exact tax area — a metro or special district can add many mills on top — so confirm the real number with the county assessor.
Sales tax: the state charges 2.9% and Costilla County adds 1%, for 3.9% before any city or special district. See Colorado sales tax rates ->
Source: Colorado Division of Property Taxation, 53rd Annual Report (2023) — Average Levies by County.
Incorporated places in this county
These cities and towns touch Costilla County. Some cross a county line. Every name opens a direct place page, and selected places include a fuller local guide.
Get to know Costilla County
The history, land, and character behind the place.
History and culture
Costilla County's map still follows a Mexican-era land grant
The shape of land, water, and settlement around San Luis traces back to the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant and the families who settled it in the 1850s.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Climbing Culebra Peak means booking a date and paying the ranch first
Culebra Peak, a 14,047-foot summit in Costilla County, sits on the private Cielo Vista Ranch and can only be climbed by advance reservation for a per-person fee on set days.
Read note ->History and culture
San Luis's Stations of the Cross climb a mesa above the oldest town in Colorado
A free, year-round walk under a mile long climbs La Mesa de la Piedad y de la Misericordia past Huberto Maestas's bronze Stations of the Cross to a hilltop adobe chapel and grotto.
Read note ->History and culture
Near San Luis, some mountain land carries old shared-use rights
The mountain land east of San Luis, long known as La Sierra, is tied to historic common-use rights that courts have addressed, and they are a real factor in local land questions.
Read note ->Money and taxes (1)
Home and property (1)
Water and land (2)
Water and land
In Costilla County, a well sits inside the San Luis Valley's water rules
Wells in Costilla County are part of the San Luis Valley's managed groundwater system, where what a well owes depends on its permit, its aquifer, and the state's basin rules.
Read note ->Water and land
Sanchez Reservoir is a warm-water fishing spot, open only for fishing
Sanchez Reservoir State Wildlife Area south of San Luis offers warm-water fishing and a boat ramp, but public access is limited to fishing and needs a license or SWA pass.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire (6)
Outdoors and wildfire
Reaching Blanca Peak means walking or crawling up the Lake Como road
Blanca Peak, one of Colorado's highest summits, is reached from a trailhead off Highway 150 where a rough jeep road to Lake Como turns back most vehicles.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Costilla County reaches from the Rio Grande to the Sangre de Cristo crest
Public land in Costilla County runs from valley floor near the Rio Grande up into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, managed mostly by the BLM and the Forest Service with their own access rules.
Read note ->Cars and driving (1)
Local rules (1)
History and culture (8)
History and culture
Fort Garland Museum preserves an 1858 adobe army post
The Fort Garland Museum and Cultural Center, run by History Colorado, preserves an adobe fort built in 1858 that once housed Kit Carson and Buffalo Soldiers of the Ninth Cavalry.
Read note ->History and culture
San Luis is widely called Colorado's oldest town, settled in 1851
San Luis, the seat of Costilla County, dates to 1851 and is often described as the oldest continuously settled town in Colorado, founded by Hispano families moving north from New Mexico.
Read note ->Nearby counties
Other San Luis Valley counties — rules, rates, and districts shift across county lines.