Larimer County Property Tax: Rates, Deadlines, Protests, and Exemptions

Your Larimer County property tax bill is calculated by taking your home’s actual (market) value, multiplying it by two separate residential assessment rates (6.8% for local government and 7.05% for school districts), and then applying the combined mill levies of every taxing district that covers your address. Payment is due in full by April 30, or in two equal halves on February 28 and June 15. Where you live inside the county matters, because mill levies differ by school district, fire district, water and sanitation district, and other overlapping jurisdictions.

How Your Bill Is Calculated

Starting with the 2025 tax year, Colorado split the residential assessment rate in two. One rate applies to local government taxing entities, another applies to school districts, and your bill is the sum of two parallel calculations rather than one.¹

For the 2026 tax year, residential property uses:

A local government rate of 6.8%, which already reflects a 10% reduction on the first $700,000 of actual value.²
A school district rate of 7.05%.³

One mill equals $1 of tax per $1,000 of assessed value. To find your tax, multiply actual value by the assessment rate to get assessed value, then multiply assessed value by the mill levy and divide by 1,000. You run that twice, once for the local government side and once for the school side, and add the results.¹

Here is the math for a $500,000 home in an area with a local government mill levy of 60 mills and a school district mill levy of 40 mills:

Local government assessed value: $500,000 × 6.8% = $34,000
Local government taxes: $34,000 × 60 ÷ 1,000 = $2,040
School district assessed value: $500,000 × 7.05% = $35,250
School district taxes: $35,250 × 40 ÷ 1,000 = $1,410
Total: $3,450

Those mill levies are illustrative. Your actual combined levy is the sum of every taxing entity at your address: the county, your city or town, the school district, and any fire, library, water, and sanitation districts you fall inside. The combined levy can vary significantly across different parts of Larimer County, and your annual tax statement breaks out each entity’s share so you can see exactly where the money goes.

Non-residential property uses different, single rates: 25% for commercial improved property and 26% for vacant land, industrial, and state-assessed property.¹

When and How to Pay

The Larimer County Treasurer mails tax statements in late January.⁴ Your statement shows the total due and your schedule number, which is the identifier you’ll need for any payment. You can pay in a single installment or split it in half, but payments outside that two-installment structure are not accepted.⁵

Deadlines for 2026:

Full payment in one installment: April 30⁴
First half installment: February 28
Second half installment: June 15

You can pay online through the Treasurer’s website. E-checks are free; credit and debit card payments carry a convenience fee.⁴ You can also mail a check to the Treasurer’s office with your schedule number written on it, or use the drop boxes outside county government buildings. If your mortgage company handles taxes through an escrow account, the lender pays the county directly and you don’t need to send anything in.

What Happens If You Pay Late

Delinquent interest accrues at 1% per month, and any partial month counts as a full one.⁶ The start date depends on which deadline you missed:

First installment late: interest runs from March 1 until paid.
Second installment late: interest runs from June 16 until paid.
Full payment late: interest runs from May 1 until paid.

One grace period: if the Treasurer mails your tax statement late, you have 30 days from that mailing date to pay the first installment without penalty, even if that pushes you past the end of February.⁶

If you still haven’t paid by fall, the county advertises the delinquency and sells a tax lien at public auction, typically in November. The buyer gets a Certificate of Purchase representing a lien against your property, and redemption interest accrues at a rate set annually by adding nine percentage points to the federal discount rate.⁷ If the lien stays unredeemed for three years, the buyer can apply for a Treasurer’s Deed, which can transfer ownership of the home out of your hands entirely. Ignoring a delinquent notice is one of the few ways to lose a home you otherwise own free and clear.

How to Protest Your Valuation

The Assessor mails a Notice of Valuation to every property owner by May 1 each year. You then have until June 8 to file a written protest or appear in person. Miss that date and you lose the right to challenge that year’s valuation.⁸

A strong protest usually comes down to comparable sales: recent sales of similar homes near yours that show the Assessor’s figure is too high. Evidence of structural problems, deferred maintenance, or neighborhood factors that drag on market appeal can also help. Protests can be filed through the Assessor’s online tool, by mail, or at an in-person appointment.

If the Assessor declines to change your valuation, the office must state its reasons in writing and mail you the determination by the last regular working day of June for real property.⁹ From there you can appeal to the Larimer County Board of Equalization, and if that doesn’t resolve the dispute, you have 30 days from the Board’s mailed decision to go to the Colorado Board of Assessment Appeals or district court.¹⁰

Exemptions and Deferrals That Lower Your Bill

Senior Homestead Exemption

If you are 65 or older and have owned and lived in your home as a primary residence continuously for at least 10 years, 50% of the first $200,000 of actual value is exempt, cutting up to $100,000 off the taxable value. For the 2026 tax year (payable in 2027), you must have been born on or before January 1, 1961, and have owned and occupied the home since before January 1, 2016. The state reimburses the county for the lost revenue.

Disabled Veteran Exemption

Veterans with a service-connected disability rated 100% permanent and total by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, or those with individual unemployability status, qualify for the same 50% exemption on the first $200,000 of their primary residence’s actual value. Gold Star spouses are also eligible.¹¹ An honorable discharge is required, and the home must be the veteran’s primary residence.

Property Tax Deferral

Colorado’s deferral program is a loan, not forgiveness. The state pays your property taxes and records a lien against the home. Interest accrues from May 1 of that year until the loan is repaid, usually at sale or transfer of ownership.¹²

Two groups qualify. Owners aged 65 and older can defer if they occupy the home, have no reverse mortgage on it, and total liens don’t exceed 75% of actual value. Active-duty military members called into service as of January 1 of the application year can also defer. Applications must be filed between January 1 and April 1.¹²

Deducting Property Taxes on Your Federal Return

If you itemize, you can deduct the real estate taxes you actually paid during the year. “Paid” is the operative word: if your lender holds an escrow account, you deduct what the escrow agent sent to the county, not what you deposited into escrow.¹³

Several items commonly bundled on a property tax bill are not deductible: water, sewer, and trash charges; special assessments for local improvements like sidewalks or sewer systems that increase your property’s value; and homeowners’ association fees.¹³ If you paid the previous owner’s delinquent taxes at closing when you bought the home, those get added to your cost basis rather than deducted.

The federal deduction for state and local taxes is capped at $40,400 for most filers in 2026 ($20,200 for married filing separately). That cap covers state income taxes and property taxes combined, so if your Colorado income tax already uses most of the cap, the property tax portion of your deduction may be limited. For many Larimer County homeowners whose combined state income and property taxes stay under the cap, the full property tax amount remains deductible.

1
Colorado Department of Local Affairs Division of Property Taxation. Understanding Property Taxes in Colorado
2
Colorado Department of Local Affairs Division of Property Taxation. Residential Local Government Assessment Rate
3
Colorado Department of Local Affairs Division of Property Taxation. Residential School Assessment Rate
4
Larimer County. 2026 Property Tax Notifications To Be Mailed
5
Larimer County. Treasurer and Public Trustee
6
FindLaw. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 39 Taxation 39-10-104.5
7
Larimer County. Tax Lien Sale
8
Justia. Colorado Code 39-5-121 – Notice of Valuation – Legislative Declaration – Definition – Repeal
9
FindLaw. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 39 Taxation 39-5-122
10
Colorado Judicial Branch. Property Tax Appeal
11
Colorado Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. Property Tax Exemption
12
Colorado State Treasurer. Property Tax Deferral Program Overview
13
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 530 (2025), Tax Information for Homeowners