Eastern Plains
Phillips County
Property taxes, marriage licenses, vehicle services, and many public records run through Phillips 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 Phillips County
The average total mill levy across Phillips County was about 90.0 mills for tax year 2023 — above the statewide average of about 81 mills. On a $500,000 home, that comes to roughly $2,930 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 Phillips 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 Phillips County. Some cross a county line. Every name opens a direct place page, and selected places include a fuller local guide.
Get to know Phillips County
The history, land, and character behind the place.
Water and land
In Phillips County, wells sit in a designated groundwater basin
Most of Phillips County lies in a state-designated groundwater basin, where wells are administered differently than wells in the rest of Colorado.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Phillips County hunting often means private land through Walk-In Access
Much of the bird hunting in Phillips County happens on private fields opened to the public through Colorado's Walk-In Access program, not on public land.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
A Phillips County state wildlife area is not a park
Frenchman Creek is a wildlife area rather than a city park, with an entry credential for most visitors 16 and older and property-specific rules.
Read note ->History and culture
Why Phillips County's towns line up the way they do
Holyoke, Haxtun, Paoli, and Amherst grew up as evenly spaced railroad towns along a line built across the plains in the late 1800s.
Read note ->Money and taxes (1)
Home and property (7)
Home and property
Phillips building permits start when a project grows the structure
In Phillips County, growing a structure past the cost threshold needs an approved building permit, with a contractor drawing or blueprints.
Read note ->Home and property
A Phillips County single-family home still needs the building path
A single-family home on a Phillips County lot skips the Land Use Change Permit but still needs a building permit before you start.
Read note ->Water and land (3)
Water and land
A big irrigation well is not the same as the home's water in Phillips County
Farm and ranch parcels in Phillips County may carry a large irrigation well that is permitted and limited separately from the household water supply.
Read note ->Water and land
Phillips septic work starts with NCHD
Out on the Phillips County plains, a septic permit from NCHD is required for any new system or repair on property off city sewer.
Read note ->Cars and driving (1)
Local rules (7)
Local rules
Changing land use in Phillips County can need its own permit
Changing how land is used in Phillips County triggers a land use change permit, sorted into one of three classes when you file.
Read note ->Local rules
Phillips land splits below 35 acres need subdivision review
Phillips County says a land division creating a parcel below 35 acres, but at least 2.5 acres, must be platted and reviewed as a subdivision.
Read note ->History and culture (4)
History and culture
Haxtun's Corn Festival: a September tradition more than a century old
Each September the small Phillips County town of Haxtun throws a Corn Festival that has run for more than a hundred years, with a downtown parade and a full day of harvest celebration.
Read note ->History and culture
Holyoke's courthouse is a New Deal landmark you can walk right up to
The 1935 Phillips County Courthouse in Holyoke is a Moderne-style Public Works Administration building on the National Register, and the only surviving PWA project in the county.
Read note ->Nearby counties
Other Eastern Plains counties — rules, rates, and districts shift across county lines.