Pitkin County provides over 132,000 in property tax relief, data shows

Pitkin County saw a 70% increase in property valuations from 2022 to 2024, according to Pitkin County Deputy Manager Kara Silbernagel.

This led to a 27% increase in property taxes, which caused the county to create a program that would relieve those tax increases for the lowest income earners in the area. 

The program is up for reconsideration for 2025, and the Pitkin County Commission seems open to keeping it almost entirely the same, albeit with some structural changes. 

The Pitkin County Property Tax Relief Program, which was created originally as its own standalone program, ultimately ended up distributing $132,456 in rebates to Pitkin County residents. The average rebate size was $1,180. Of the 132 applications that Pitkin County received, 112 were approved. 

Sixty three of those individuals were older adults, with many of them already getting tax rebates from a senior-specific low-income tax relief program. Forty nine were not older adults. 

This has prompted Pitkin County to consider rolling the two programs — the low-income senior tax relief and the property tax rebate — into one. Because the senior tax relief program has existed since 1994 and is operated in partnership with the city of Aspen, Pitkin County staff suggested putting the newer property tax relief under the original senior tax relief program.

Staff and commissioners, however, don’t want to exclude the 49 other adults from the program and any other future eligible adults. 

“We just need to name it appropriately. If we’re combining the two, it makes perfect sense,” said Commissioner Greg Poschman. “Let’s simplify it, but it can’t be the senior low income tax program any longer. We’re not talking about excluding people who would have been eligible before.” 

Property tax relief program eligibility was calculated based on a sliding scale that was built on the federal poverty level. By looking at the federal poverty level and a local living wage calculator, Pitkin County arrived at 500% of the federal poverty level as the upper line for who is able to receive the rebate. 

Below the 500% federal poverty level, applicants were subject to a sliding scale with the absolute maximum rebate size being $2,000. 

According to data presented on Tuesday to Pitkin County commissioners, there are 5,631 individuals in Pitkin County who are at or below 400% of the federal poverty level, likely more for the 500% threshold. For a one individual household, that would mean making up to $58,320 per year.

Commissioners Patty Clapper and Poschman were in agreement that the program should be rolled into the existing senior tax relief program but would need to be renamed. Commissioner Kelly McNicholas Kury and Jeffrey Woodruff both agreed that the program needed to be kept considering it had already had an impact in the community.