Property Taxes in Denver, CO: How They Work in 2026

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Updated on: November 2, 2026

Property tax is an annual tax on real estate based on its value, and in Denver it comes as one bill from the City and County of Denver.

Key Takeaway

Your bill is the Assessor’s actual value, less any state reduction, times Colorado’s residential assessment rate, times your tax district’s total mill levy. The bill paid in 2026 covers the prior tax year and is due in two halves or in one full payment. It is usually paid by the lender through escrow. Seniors, disabled veterans and income-qualified owners can lower or defer the bill if they apply by each program’s deadline.

Who This Guide Is For

This guide is for Denver homeowners and home buyers who want to estimate, look up, pay or lower a City and County of Denver residential property tax bill.

Denver Property Taxes at a Glance

  • Tax year 2025 assessment rates: 6.25% local, 7.05% schools.
  • Standard Denver levy: 79.602 mills, about 0.54% of market value.
  • 2026 due dates: March 2 and June 15, or April 30.
  • Valuation notices by May 1; Assessor appeal deadline June 8, 2026.
  • Exemption deadlines: disabled veterans July 1, seniors July 15, 2026.

How Denver Property Taxes Work

Denver is a consolidated city and county, so you receive one combined statement rather than separate bills from different municipal entities.

Four offices and bodies shape that statement:

  • Denver Assessor: sets each property’s actual (market) value through mass appraisal of sales and property data.
  • State of Colorado: sets the residential assessment rate, the share of value that is taxed.
  • Taxing bodies: the city, the school district and special districts each set a mill levy every year.
  • Denver Treasurer: bills and collects the tax.

A large portion of the revenue goes to Denver Public Schools. The rest supports city operations, infrastructure, police, fire and special districts.

Colorado property taxes are paid in arrears: the bill paid in 2026 covers tax year 2025, and Denver issued those statements in January 2026.

Denver Property Tax Rate: Assessment Rate, Mill Levy and Effective Rate

Three different numbers get called “the rate.”

The Residential Assessment Rate

This is the state percentage of actual value that is taxable. The legislature has changed it several times in recent years, so check which tax year a rate applies to.

For tax year 2025, the bills payable in 2026, the state certified a split rate: 6.25% of actual value for local government levies and 7.05% for school district levies. For tax year 2026, payable in 2027, the local rate is 6.8% after a fixed reduction of 10% of the first $700,000 of actual value (with a $1,000 assessed-value minimum). The school rate is unchanged.

The Mill Levy

One mill is $1 of tax for every $1,000 of assessed value. In Denver’s standard tax area for tax year 2025, the local government levy is 27.328 mills, including the Mile High Flood District. Denver Public Schools adds 52.274 mills, for a total of 79.602 mills. The school figure combines a 38.935-mill general fund levy, a 9.339-mill bond levy and a 4.000-mill special revenue levy. Special and metropolitan districts can push a given address’s levy above the standard figure, and the exact levy is printed on your statement.

The Effective Rate

The effective rate is annual tax divided by market value, and it is the number used to compare places. It is roughly the assessment rate times the levy. Applying each tax year 2025 assessment rate to its own levy gives about $5.39 of tax per thousand dollars of value in the standard tax area. If you have seen a lower figure such as 0.48%, check which tax year and levy it rests on; this figure uses the certified tax year 2025 rates and Denver’s standard levy.

Commercial and other non-residential property uses a different, higher assessment rate, so owners of those properties should confirm the current rate with the Denver Assessor. Suburbs such as Aurora, Lakewood and Littleton sit in other counties with their own levies, so any Denver vs. suburb property tax comparison has to use each county’s rates.

How to Calculate Your Denver Property Tax Bill

The Colorado Association of REALTORS’ Local Market Update for Denver County reports a September 2026 median home price in Denver County of $700,000 for single-family homes. With the tax year 2025 rates and standard levy, the math for that home looks like this:

  1. Actual value: the median price, less any reduction to actual value that applies to the tax year.
  2. Assessed value: the median price × the local rate = $43,750 for local levies, and × the school rate = $49,350 for school levies.
  3. Tax by portion: $43,750 × 27.328 ÷ 1,000 = $1,195.60 local, and the school assessed value × 52.274 ÷ 1,000 = $2,579.72 schools.
  4. Annual tax: $3,775.32, matching the effective rate above.
  5. Monthly escrow amount: about $315.

A condo or townhome at the reported $345,444 median works out to about $1,863 a year, or roughly $155 a month.

For the bill payable in 2027 (tax year 2026), the same home’s local assessed value drops to $42,840: its value less the $70,000 reduction, times 6.8%. The school assessed value is unchanged, and the final amount depends on the mill levies set for tax year 2026.

Treat these results as estimates: special districts and exemptions change the bill, and the exact figure for an address is on its statement. For other addresses or tax years, use the Tax Calculator in the Colorado Division of Property Taxation’s Property Tax Map: search the address, choose the property type and tax year, and enter an actual value.

When Are Denver Property Taxes Due?

You can pay in one of two ways:

  • Two halves: the first half by Monday, March 2, 2026, and the second half by June 15, 2026. The first-half date normally falls on the last day of February. Because February 28, 2026 is a Saturday, it moves to the next business day.
  • One full payment: by April 30, 2026, with no late interest on the first half.

Once a payment is past due, interest accrues at 1% per month. Under this year’s date, a first half becomes delinquent on March 3, 2026, and a second half after June 15. Nonpayment triggers a delinquency notice in July. Taxes still unpaid are advertised in the local newspaper and offered at the City’s tax lien auction, usually held in October or November. Liens that do not sell are struck off to the City.

If your lender pays from escrow, you remain responsible for the tax, so check that each payment posted.

How to Look Up and Pay Your Denver Property Taxes

Starting in 2026, Denver posts tax statements online at denvergov.org/property instead of mailing full paper bills. Owners receive a postcard with instructions, and full statements can be viewed and printed free at any Denver Public Library.

To find a value and tax statement:

  1. Go to Denver’s property search and enter the address under Real Property, or search by parcel ID or schedule number.
  2. Open the property record and scroll to the Tax Documents section at the bottom.
  3. Download the statement for the tax year you need. Prior years are listed there too.
  4. To pay, scroll back to the top and select Tax Payment.

Because statements stay online, you can download a replacement for a lost bill at any time. The official search has no dedicated owner-name field.

Denver accepts payment three ways:

  • Online: eCheck, Visa, Mastercard or Discover.
  • By mail: check or money order payable to Manager of Finance, sent to the Treasury Division address on your statement.
  • In person: at the Taxpayer Services Center in the Wellington Webb Building, 201 W. Colfax Ave.

Credit and debit cards carry a 2.5% service fee, online or in person. Check, money order, cash and eCheck or ACH carry no fee. For questions, call 720-913-9300 (calls may route through 311).

Reassessments and How to Appeal Your Denver Valuation

Colorado reassesses real estate values every odd-numbered year. Tax year 2026 is the second year of the cycle that began with the 2025 reassessment, and its values come from market data for the period ending June 30, 2024. Values generally carry over in the intervening year unless the property physically changed, for example through permitted construction.

The Assessor still mails a Notice of Valuation by May 1 each year, including 2026. Residential values come from comparable sales and the recorded features of the home: square footage, bedrooms, bathrooms, condition and a finished basement. A wrong detail in the property record can raise the value, so check that record first.

To appeal:

  1. Review the notice: confirm the value and the property details.
  2. Gather evidence: collect comparable sales from the data period.
  3. File with the Assessor: the 2026 deadline is June 8, 2026.
  4. Go to the next level if denied: file with the Denver County Board of Equalization by July 15. The Board must conclude hearings by August 5.

A home valuation based on current listings and recent sales can differ from the Assessor’s figure, which is tied to the earlier data period.

Property Tax Exemptions and Relief Programs in Denver

Each program has its own criteria and deadline, and missing a deadline usually means waiting a year.

Senior Property Tax Exemption

Applicants must be 65 or older and have owned and occupied the home as their primary residence for at least 10 consecutive years. There is no income limit. The exemption removes 50% of the first $200,000 of actual value from taxation. Apply to the Denver Assessor by July 15, 2026. Late filings run to August 15 but lose appeal rights if denied.

Seniors who qualified in 2020 or later and then moved could keep a similar reduced classification for tax years 2025 and 2026 only. Its application deadline is March 15, 2026, late until July 15, and the option ends with tax year 2027.

Disabled Veteran Exemption

Veterans with a 100% permanent VA disability rating or individual unemployability who own and occupy the home as their primary residence get the same reduction. A parallel exemption covers Gold Star and surviving spouses of qualifying veterans. Apply to the Denver Assessor by July 1, 2026. The late deadline of August 1 forfeits appeal rights.

Property Tax Deferral Program

Seniors 65 and older and active military service members can defer property taxes through a low-interest loan from the Colorado Department of the Treasury. It is a lien on the home, not an exemption, and the deferred taxes are repaid when the property is sold or the title transfers. The former option open to any owner facing a large tax increase has been eliminated. Apply through the Denver Treasurer between January 1 and April 1.

Denver Property Tax Relief Program

Run by the Department of Housing Stability, this program refunds part of the property taxes paid. Homeowners must meet all three conditions:

  • Be 62 or older, disabled, have a dependent child or be a surviving spouse.
  • Have owned and lived in the Denver home all of 2025 and paid 2025 taxes in full.
  • Have household income at or below 80% of Area Median Income ($72,950 for one person).

Apply at denvergov.org/propertytaxrelief from May 1, 2026 through April 30, 2027.

Colorado PTC Rebate

Full-year residents who are not claimed as a dependent can claim this rebate if they are 65 or older (or a surviving spouse 58 or older) or disabled. Their 2025 household income must be under $19,094 single or $25,788 married. Claim it from the Colorado Department of Revenue on form DR 0104PTC. File by October 15, 2026 to receive the TABOR refund portion; the final deadline is December 31, 2027.

Property Taxes When You Buy a Home in Denver

Because taxes are paid in arrears, the seller usually credits the buyer at closing for the seller’s share of the current year. The Colorado Real Estate Commission’s standard contract lets the parties prorate on either of two bases:

  • the prior calendar year’s taxes, or
  • the most recent mill levy and valuation from the Assessor.

The buyer owns the home all day on the closing date. The buyer then pays the full bill that arrives the following January for the year of closing, using the credit received at closing. The title company calculates the proration figures.

The seller’s last bill may not match yours:

  • The seller’s exemption ends when ownership changes.
  • A sale by itself does not trigger a reassessment.
  • A newly built home is valued on its status as of January 1. If it was unfinished then, that year’s bill may reflect mostly land. Construction finished after January 1 is generally not added until the next tax year.

Your lender collects an initial escrow reserve at closing and adjusts the monthly payment after the first bill, so budget from the estimate above. First-time buyers should include that tax estimate when deciding how much monthly payment they can carry. On the seller side, the prorated tax credit appears among seller closing costs on the settlement statement.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Can My Denver Tax Bill Change in a Year with No Reassessment?

Mill levies can rise with budgets and voter-approved measures, and assessment-rate changes or new construction can also move the bill. Tax year 2025, which the 2026 bill covers, was itself a reassessment year.

Is Colorado Property Tax High Compared to Other States?

As a share of value, Denver’s standard-area bill is low, but high home values still mean the median single-family home owes about $3,775 a year.

What Other Local Taxes Do Denver Residents Pay Besides Property Tax?

Denver collects a city sales tax on top of state and regional sales taxes. People who work in Denver also pay an Occupational Privilege Tax, typically withheld from wages.

What If My Mortgage Lender Misses the Escrow Payment?

Check Denver’s property search to see whether the payment posted, and contact your servicer right away, since late interest builds monthly. Servicers generally cover penalties caused by their own error.

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