Calculating The True Cost Of Mill Levies In Grand County

When homeowners hear the term 'mill levy,' their eyes glaze over as they quickly check 'Yes' on whatever issue is before them on the ballot.

Mill levy override? Yes!

Mill levy increase? Yes!

School mill levy? Yes!

Rec. district mill levy? Yes!

Fire district mill levy? Heck Yeah!

How bad could it be? One mill only costs you $0.0796, or about eight cents per $1000.00 of assessed value in Grand County (Grand County Assessor). To get a better idea of the cost of one mill, lets look at the assessed value of a typical home in Winter Park.

According to City Data, the mean home value in Winter Park is $415,000, so the cost of one mill to the average Winter Park homeowner comes in at $33.034 (.0796*415).

The East Grand School District gets 19.651 mills from every property owner in their district. That means the typical homeowner in Winter Park shells out $649.15 every year, just for schools (19.651*$33.034).

If you live within the East Grand Fire Protection District #4, add another 6.148 mills. Fraser Rec. District? Tac on another 6.161 mills (CO Dept. of Local Affairs).

So the homeowner above, located within just those three districts, has to pay 31.96 mills (19.651+6.148+6.161), or $2.54 per $1000 of assessed value of their property. They would have to pay ($2.54*415) = $1054 per year in this case.

But, it doesn't stop there. There's the Grand County Library District (2.41 mills), and Grand County itself (15.155 mills). That's another $580 on top of the previous $1054 for a total of $1634.

So what, you say? What's the big deal? It's only a little over $100 dollars per month.

That $1634 dollars is coming out of your after-tax income. That $1634 dollars, if you don't pay, allows the county to place a lien on your property. They can then sell your property to recoup their tax. How does that square with your sense of justice?

Everyone must pay their fair share, right? I guess paying a 35 percent income tax isn't enough of a fair share? How about paying a 10 percent sales tax on top of that? Why don't we raise taxes one penny, so the sales tax rate in Winter Park is the highest in Colorado, at 'only' 11 percent? Where does it stop folks?

The next time someone tells you it's 'only' a penny or 'only' a mill, just say the only thing that makes sense: No.