The Colorado Board of Assessment Appeals is where property owners go after a County Board of Equalization denies their protest and they still believe the assessed value is too high. You have thirty days from the date the CBOE mails its decision to file a petition, pay the applicable fee, and ask for a hearing before Board members who will weigh your evidence against the county assessor’s.1Justia Law. Colorado Code 39-8-108 – Decision – Review – Opportunity to Submit Case to Arbitration The process is designed to be accessible to individual owners, but the deadlines are strict and the burden of proof sits with you.
What You Must Do Before Filing
You cannot take a valuation dispute straight to the BAA. Colorado law requires two earlier steps, and skipping either forfeits your right to a BAA hearing.
The first step is a written protest to the county assessor after you receive your Notice of Valuation. For real property, the protest must be delivered or postmarked by June 1. For personal property, the deadline is June 30.2Justia Law. Colorado Code 39-5-122 – Taxpayers Notification to Assessor The assessor holds a hearing and sends a written Notice of Determination.
If that determination doesn’t resolve things, you appeal to the County Board of Equalization. For personal property, the CBOE appeal must be filed or postmarked by July 20, and the CBOE must issue its decision by August 5.3Colorado Division of Property Taxation. Protests and Appeals Some counties operate under an alternate appeals process with different deadlines, so confirm the calendar with your county assessor’s office if you’re unsure which track you’re on.4Colorado Division of Property Taxation. Filing Deadlines
Only after the CBOE denies your petition, in whole or in part, does the BAA become an option. At that point you actually have three choices: the BAA, a trial de novo in district court, or binding arbitration (which is final and cannot be appealed).1Justia Law. Colorado Code 39-8-108 – Decision – Review – Opportunity to Submit Case to Arbitration5Colorado Judicial Branch. Instructions for Appealing Property Tax Assessment with the District Court The CBOE’s written decision is required to tell you about all three options and the thirty-day deadline that applies to each.6Colorado Assessors’ Reference Library. Chapter 5 – Taxpayer Administrative Remedies
The Thirty-Day Deadline
Your BAA petition must be received within thirty days of the date the CBOE mailed its decision.1Justia Law. Colorado Code 39-8-108 – Decision – Review – Opportunity to Submit Case to Arbitration The clock runs from the mailing date, not the day the envelope lands in your mailbox, so a few days of mail time can quietly eat into your window. The BAA stamps each petition with its received date, and timely filing is presumed unless the Board has evidence otherwise. Miss the deadline and you are locked into the CBOE’s valuation for the rest of that assessment cycle.
Filing Fees
Fees are set by statute, nonrefundable, and depend on who is filing.7Justia Law. Colorado Code 39-2-125 – Duties of the Board – Board of Assessment Appeals Cash Fund – Creation
- Self-represented taxpayers pay nothing for their first two petitions in a fiscal year (July 1 through June 30). Each additional petition costs $33.75 per parcel or personal property schedule.
- Taxpayers represented by an attorney or agent pay $101.25 per parcel or personal property schedule on every petition.
- Accelerated commercial appeals for rent-producing commercial property cost $200.
If you own multiple parcels that raise the same valuation issue, you pay only one filing fee for the group, which can meaningfully reduce costs for owners of several similarly situated properties.8Board of Assessment Appeals. Filing Fees
Should You Hire Someone?
You do not need an attorney to appear before the BAA. The fee structure actively rewards self-representation by waiving the fee for your first two petitions each fiscal year. You can also hire a non-attorney agent or consultant, but doing so moves you into the $101.25 fee bracket.9Board of Assessment Appeals. File a Petition for Appeal
Whether professional help is worth it depends on the property and the stakes. A straightforward residential dispute, backed by a handful of recent comparable sales, is something many owners handle themselves. Commercial properties valued by income approaches are harder to challenge without an appraiser and often a lawyer, and the dollars at risk usually justify the cost.
What the Hearing Looks Like
Hearings are conducted by one or more Board members, and every final decision requires at least two members to agree.10Colorado Secretary of State. Board of Assessment Appeals Rules 8 CCR 1301-1 The format is a simplified trial. Both sides present evidence, call witnesses, and cross-examine.
You carry the burden of proving the assessor’s value is wrong. In practice that means comparable sales, an independent appraisal, or documented property conditions the assessor missed or misread. The county assessor defends the valuation with its own comparable sales and the methodology behind the number. The Board decides on the weight and credibility of the evidence, so organized data beats clever argument almost every time.
The Board’s procedural rules govern what evidence is admissible and how testimony is handled. They are less formal than court rules, but they are rules. Read them before your hearing date; they’re published through the Colorado Secretary of State.
What the Board Can Do
The BAA has three options when it rules:
- Affirm the valuation. The assessor’s number stands and your tax bill does not change.
- Modify the valuation. The Board adjusts the assessed value, usually downward, and the assessor must conform. This is the outcome most successful appellants are hoping for.
- Overturn the valuation. Where the original assessment is substantially flawed, the Board can reject the assessor’s value entirely. Less common, but it happens.
A win applies only to the assessment year under appeal. It does not roll forward. If the next cycle brings another overvaluation, you start the protest process over.
If the BAA Rules Against You
You can petition the Colorado Court of Appeals for judicial review within forty-nine days after the Board’s final decision is served.11Justia Law. Colorado Code 24-4-106 – Judicial Review
Judicial review is not a second hearing. The Court of Appeals does not take new evidence or re-weigh testimony. It looks at whether the Board’s decision was supported by the record and whether the Board followed the law. That is a high bar, which is why the hearing itself is where your case is really won or lost. New arguments and new evidence effectively end when the Board rules.
If the court finds an error, it typically sends the case back to the BAA for further proceedings; outright reversals are rare. Judicial review generally requires an attorney and carries its own court costs, so most owners reserve it for disputes where the potential tax savings clearly justify the expense.
Is It Worth Filing?
The BAA filing fee itself is modest, and nothing for the first two petitions if you handle them yourself. Other costs add up quickly though. A certified appraisal can run from a few hundred to several thousand dollars depending on the property. Attorney fees vary widely. Agents and consultants add the $101.25 filing fee on top of their own charges.
The math is straightforward. Estimate how much your annual tax bill would drop if you win, multiply by the number of years that reduction would apply before the next reassessment, and compare to what pursuing the appeal will cost you. A homeowner with a clearly overstated value and a few good comparable sales can often come out ahead with self-representation alone. A commercial owner facing a six-figure tax bill may recover the cost of professional help many times over.
Preparation time is the cost most people underestimate. Pulling comparable sales, understanding how the assessor arrived at the value, and organizing an evidence packet takes real work even without professionals involved. The process is accessible, and Colorado property owners navigate it successfully every year, but it rewards the ones who treat the hearing like the evidentiary proceeding it is.