Homeowners in the heart of Basalt saw their property values plummet by up to 60 percent while Aspen-area residents saw their home values drop around 20 to 30 percent in the May 1 reappraisals required by the state.

The assessors' offices of Pitkin and Eagle counties mailed new valuations to property owners on Friday and posted the changes for all individual properties on their websites over the weekend. Spot checks by The Aspen Times showed that the Hill District of Basalt, also known as Old Town, saw values drop between 54 and 60 percent from the last revaluation two years ago. Homes on Homestead Drive and Sopris Avenue experienced the most drastic losses in a sample of several midvalley neighborhoods.

Elsewhere in the midvalley, homes in Willits dropped between 29 and 36 percent; homes in the River Oaks neighborhood along the Roaring Fork River off of Willits Lane fell by between 46 and 48 percent; Elk Run was off 44 to 51 percent; and Riverside Drive was down 36 percent.

Individual homes could vary by a greater percentage than the averages from the sample.

In the El Jebel area, the sample showed Sopris Village homes were down around 44 percent; Summit Vista was off by 34 percent; and Blue Lake was down between 30 and 37 percent. Homes in the Eagle County portion of Missouri Heights were down between 24 and 30 percent.

Some areas hit harder

“Everything is more than 30 percent of a reduction,” said Garret Brandt, an attorney and real estate agent who is a partner in Aspen Valley Property Consultants, a firm that handles appeals by property owners. There were a significant number of homes with more than a 50 percent drop in value, he added.

“The Willits lofts were absolutely hammered — more than a 50 percent drop,” Brandt said.

Condominiums in Basalt and at Valley Pines were down more sharply than single-family homes, Brandt said, and older properties generally lost more value than new properties.

Colorado counties are required to perform the reappraisals every other year, in the odd years. The values released in May 2009 reflected market conditions for an 18-month period ending June 30, 2008. That was before the recession walloped the Roaring Fork Valley. So, just as many homeowners were feeling the economic pinch and watching market values sag, revaluations for 2009 reflected a boom in valley real estate prices. Many property owners were angry and a record number of appeals were filed in some counties.

Now, the reappraisals are reflecting conditions during the Great Recession. Eagle County Assessor Mark Chapin said his office looked at a 24-month period, as allowed by state law, because there were so few sales to base values on. His office looked at sales between July 2008 and June 2010 as a basis for the new values.

Homeowners wonder about taxes

Property values in the Roaring Fork Valley portion of Eagle County fell by a greater amount, on average, than properties in the Eagle Valley, according to Chapin. The Eagle Valley, including Vail, saw declines of about 30 percent while the Basalt-El Jebel area saw declines of 35 percent or greater, he said.

“The market in the Roaring Fork Valley seemed to be impacted more than the Eagle Valley, in large part because of its proximity to Aspen,” Chapin said. Roaring Fork Valley prices soared higher in the boom of the mid-2000s, he noted, so they experienced a greater fall.

Basalt Councilwoman and River Oaks homeowner Jacque Whitsitt saw her home value fall 48 percent. “I'm not surprised,” Whitsitt said. “I hope it's reflected in the property taxes.”

Old Town Basalt homeowner Gerry Terwilliger saw his home value fall 54 percent but he shrugged it off. He said he doesn't pay a lot of attention to the rise and fall of real estate prices. He has lived in the house for about 30 years and has no plans to sell anytime soon.

The drop in the new values follow a period when there was rapid appreciation in Old Town, he noted.

Some other properties owners have eagerly awaited the reappraisals because of the effect it will have on property tax bills payable in 2012 for 2011. Chapin said the property tax decrease may not correspond to the same percentage decrease in property value. Some special taxing districts may have obligations, like bond indebtedness, that have a tax rate that will rise if values fall. That's designed to maintain revenues.

That said, many taxpayers will see there bills go down next year.

Aspen's decreases meet expectations

In Pitkin County, the reappraisals for residential property were 10 to 40 percent lower countywide and 20 to 30 percent lower in the Aspen area, according to Pitkin County Assessor Tom Isaac. “It really varies from neighborhood to neighborhood,” he said.

Government subsidized affordable housing in Pitkin County was the exception. Values generally appreciated slightly.

An Aspen Times sample of the free market showed homes in the Cemetery Lane area were down around 25 percent; homes in East Aspen were off 28 to 35.5 percent; homes in Meadowood fell by at least 21 percent; homes in Mountain Valley were down 31 percent; and homes in the West End were 35 percent lower compared to 2009.

Craig Morris, a partner in Morris & Fyrwald Real Estate, examined a handful of examples with The Aspen Times and concluded they showed a reasonable drop in value. He credited the Pitkin County Assessor's office for accurately reflecting market conditions.

His Mountain Valley home value was down 30 percent from two years ago. “Let me tell you this — I'm not fighting it,” he said. The assessor's value was close enough that it wouldn't be worth investing the time needed to protest, he said.

Outside the metro area, the Buttermilk Road home of Gordon Gerson was down 30 percent while the Gateway-to-Snowmass home of Bob Guion was off 31 percent.

“I think where it's at now is appropriate,” Gerson said of his reappraisal. He said he felt the valuation in May 2009 was too high.

“My reaction two years ago was, ‘Where are their numbers coming from?'” he said.

Guion said his chats with neighbors in Gateway Monday indicated values were down between 31 and 39 percent, a range he expected. “I'm not going to protest mine,” he said. His loss of 31 percent put his house value back where it was four years ago.

Challenge coming for taxing districts

Guion is also looking at the new values as a member of a board of directors for the Basalt and Rural Fire Protection District. “It certainly causes us concern because it's going to be a drop in revenues,” he said. But he's not worried about the district's ability to provide adequate fire protection and ambulance services.

The fire district anticipated the eventual drops in revenues when the recession hit and managed its budgets accordingly, he said. The fire district can maintain the current levels of service for four years by relying on its reserves, assuming revenues are down about 30 percent annually, Guion said. The district won't want to spend all its reserves, he said, so he favors looking at paring additional expenses. The board will start weighing those issues starting this summer, he said.

The reappraisals' implications for overall tax bills won't be clear until late this year.

Property owners have the month of May to appeal their valuations to their county assessor. Chapin said appeals can be filed in person, via fax or by email. They cannot be appealed by phone. Appeals should include supporting evidence.

Brandt said his firm analyzes comparable sales for property owners and also look at valuations for neighboring properties to make sure the assessor's office didn't overlook anything, then presents the appeal in a user friendly way. He said he didn't have a feel yet on Monday if many property owners will appeal their values.

scondon@aspentimes.com