Colorado § 39-2-109 - Duties, powers, and authority.

§ 39-2-109. Duties, powers, and authority.

(1) It is the duty of the property tax administrator, and the administrator shall have and exercise authority:

(a) To value the property and plant of all public utilities doing business in this state in the manner prescribed by law, which value shall be equalized in accordance with the provisions of section 39-4-102 (3), and to prepare and furnish all forms required to be filed with him by public utilities;

(b) To assist and cooperate in the administration of all laws concerning the valuing of taxable property, the assessment of same, and the levying of property taxes;

(c) Repealed.

(d) To approve the form and size of all personal property schedules, forms, and notices furnished or sent by assessors to owners of taxable property, the form of petitions for abatement or refund, the form of all field books, plat and block books, maps, and appraisal cards used in the office of the assessor and other forms and records used and maintained by the assessor and to require exclusive use of such approved schedules, books, maps, appraisal cards, forms, and records by all assessors to ensure uniformity;

(e) To prepare and publish from time to time manuals, appraisal procedures, and instructions, after consultation with the advisory committee to the property tax administrator and the approval of the state board of equalization, concerning methods of appraising and valuing land, improvements, personal property, and mobile homes, and to require their utilization by assessors in valuing and assessing taxable property. Said manuals, appraisal procedures, and instructions must be based upon the three approaches to appraisal and the procedures set forth in section 39-1-103 (5)(a). Such manuals, appraisal procedures, and instructions are subject to legislative review, the same as rules, pursuant to section 24-4-103 (8)(d).

(f) To prepare and furnish to assessors all forms required to be completed by them and filed with the property tax administrator;

(g) To call, upon not less than ten days' prior notice, meetings of assessors at some designated place in the state and, upon reasonable notice, to call group or area meetings of two or more assessors;

(h) To prepare and design a basic form for all assessors to use in the assessment of real property which will set forth in detail information to be inserted pertaining to the approaches to appraisal set forth in section 39-1-103 (5)(a);

(i) To determine, whenever the administrator discovers that any taxable property of a public utility or any taxable rail transportation property has been omitted from the assessment roll of any year or series of years, the value of such omitted property. The administrator shall notify the assessor of such discovery and value. The assessor shall list the same on the assessment roll of the year in which the discovery was made and shall notify the treasurer of any unpaid taxes on such property for prior years.

(j) Repealed.

(k) To prepare and publish guidelines, after consultation with the advisory committee to the property tax administrator and approval of the state board of equalization, concerning the audit and compliance review of oil and gas leasehold properties for property tax purposes, which must be utilized by assessors, treasurers, and their agents. Such guidelines are subject to legislative review, the same as rules, pursuant to section 24-4-103 (8)(d).

(l) To resolve valuation disputes concerning property or property interests owned or held by the Southern Ute Indian tribe as provided in the taxation compact set forth in section 24-61-102, C.R.S.;

(m) To establish the forms required pursuant to part 2 of article 29 of title 38, C.R.S.;

(n) To prepare and publish standardized forms, including a letter of authorization, for all levels of property tax appeals and to develop and publish guidelines or instructions for the use of the forms. According to the guidelines or instructions published by the administrator, notarization of the forms is not required so long as alternative indicia of reliability and authenticity are available.

(2) Repealed.

Source: L. 70: R&RE, p. 372, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 137-3-9. L. 73: p. 1437, § 1. L. 76: (1)(e) amended, p. 756, § 7, effective July 1. L. 77: (1)(h) added, p. 1750, § 1, effective June 9; (1)(c) R&RE and (1)(e) amended, p. 1733, §§ 7, 9, effective June 20. L. 81: (1)(c) repealed, p. 1398, § 11, effective January 1; (1)(a) amended, p. 1848, § 3, effective January 1, 1982. L. 82: (1)(e) amended, p. 555, § 1, effective January 1, 1984. L. 83: (1)(e) R&RE, p. 1498, § 1, effective April 12; (1)(b) amended, p. 1489, § 2, effective April 21; (1)(h) amended, p. 1483, § 4, effective April 22; (1)(i) and (1)(j) added, pp. 2082, 2083, §§ 1, 1, effective October 13. L. 90: (1)(e) amended, p. 1699, § 26, effective June 9. L. 91: (1)(k) added, p. 1953, § 1, effective January 1, 1992. L. 96: IP(1) and (1)(d) amended, p. 649, § 2, effective May 1; (1)(l) added, p. 1726, § 2, effective June 3. L. 99: (1)(l) amended, p. 629, § 40, effective August 4. L. 2004: (1)(j) repealed, p. 206, § 28, effective August 4. L. 2008: (1)(m) added, p. 452, § 10, effective July 1. L. 2022: (1)(e) and (1)(k) amended and (2) added, (HB 22-1416), ch. 158, p. 995, § 1, effective August 10. L. 2026: (1)(e) and (1)(k) amended, (1)(n) added, and (2) repealed, (SB 26-046), ch. 10, p. 40, § 4, effective August 12.

ANNOTATION

State property tax administrator's assessors' reference library manuals are binding on county assessors. Huddleston v. Grand County Bd. of Equaliz., 913 P.2d 15 (Colo. 1996).