Colorado § 30-1-102 - Fees of county treasurer.

§ 30-1-102. Fees of county treasurer.

(1) Except as provided in subsection (1.7) of this section, the county treasurer shall charge and receive the following fees:

(a) Upon all money received by him or her for town and city taxes except as otherwise provided in section 42-3-107 (24)(c), whether such towns or cities are incorporated under the general laws or by special charter, and anything in said charter to the contrary notwithstanding, and upon all school taxes in counties of the first class, one percent; in counties of the second class, one percent; in counties of every other class, one percent on school taxes and two percent on town and city taxes; except that a collection fee not exceeding one-quarter of one percent shall be charged as provided in section 22-54-119 and no collection fee shall be charged on other school taxes exempt by law from said collection fees;

(b) Upon all moneys received by him for taxes of every other kind in counties of the first class, one percent; second class, one and one-half percent; third class, two percent; fourth class, three percent; fifth class, five percent;

(c) For receiving all moneys other than taxes, one percent, except moneys received from all federal funds derived from any and all sources. No collection fees shall be charged upon any moneys collected and distributed under the provisions of sections 22-54-106 and 22-54-115, C.R.S., or upon other school moneys exempt by law from said collection fees;

(d) Repealed.

(e) For advertising delinquent personal property taxes, ten dollars or the cost of advertising, whichever is greater;

(f) For certifying the amount of taxes due on any parcel of real estate, and for certifying outstanding sales for unpaid taxes with the amount required for redemption, ten dollars for each certificate;

(g) In connection with a sale for delinquent taxes, for advertising each property description that is separately identified by its own parcel number for general property tax purposes, the estimated cost of advertising but not less than ten dollars;

(h) Repealed.

(i) For each certificate of purchase from a tax lien sale, five dollars;

(j) For endorsing the amount of subsequent taxes paid on tax certificates and the date of payment in the book of tax sales, five dollars for each certificate;

(k) Repealed.

(l) For the assignment of a certificate of purchase, made to the county, city, town, or city and county at any tax sale, to a person desiring to purchase property covered by such certificate, five dollars;

(m) For each notice of purchase required by section 39-11-128 (1), C.R.S., to be served before a treasurer's deed may be issued, the cost of publication in a newspaper where such publication is required;

(n) For each certificate of redemption delivered, ten dollars;

(o) (I) Repealed.

(II) For services in collecting drainage district assessments on and after January 1, 2026, twenty-five hundredths of one percent upon all money received by the county treasurer for assessments levied by the drainage district;

(p) (I) Repealed.

(II) For services in collecting irrigation district assessments on and after January 1, 2026, twenty-five hundredths of one percent upon all money received by the county treasurer for assessments levied by the irrigation district;

(q) For services rendered in handling the payment of principal and interest on bonds of a school district, such amount as the county treasurer and the board of education shall agree upon, which shall be determined in accordance with the prevailing rate charged for similar services rendered by commercial banks in the state of Colorado;

(r) For preparation of a distraint warrant, fifteen dollars, and for delivery of a distraint warrant or posting of a property, fifty dollars, plus mileage or the actual cost of delivery or posting, whichever is greater;

(s) For research, the amounts specified in section 24-72-205;

(t) Repealed.

(u) For each copy of a receipt issued for a prior tax year, no more than five dollars.

(1.5) The county treasurer may charge and receive the fee specified in section 42-4-510 (2)(a) for issuing an authentication of paid ad valorem taxes and a transportable manufactured home permit.

(1.7) (a) The county treasurer is entitled to charge and receive the following fees in administering article 11.5 of title 39:

(I) For processing an application for a treasurer's deed, three hundred dollars;

(II) For processing an assignment of a certificate of purchase, no more than twenty-five dollars;

(III) For accepting and filing an intent to repurchase from a lawful holder in a public auction, one hundred dollars;

(IV) For processing a notice of intent to redeem, no more than twenty-five dollars;

(V) For processing and issuing a certificate of redemption, thirty dollars;

(VI) For the issuance of a treasurer's deed, sixty dollars;

(VII) For processing a withdrawal of an application for treasurer's deed, seventy dollars;

(VIII) For processing an administrative withdrawal, one hundred dollars;

(IX) For processing a rescission of public auction, one hundred dollars;

(X) For recommencing a public auction held in violation of an automatic stay, one hundred dollars;

(XI) For recommencing a public auction after a bankruptcy proceeding where publications were not complete, one hundred fifty dollars;

(XII) For recommencing a public auction after set aside, one hundred dollars;

(XIII) For issuing a certificate of lawful holder repurchase, sixty dollars; and

(XIV) For processing a public auction, if the holder of a certificate of option for a treasurer's deed is not the lawful holder, no more than three hundred dollars.

(b) The county treasurer may charge a lesser fee than is set forth in subsection (1.7)(a) of this section, when the valuation for assessment for the property subject to public auction, as determined at the time of recording the application for public auction, is less than five hundred dollars, or if the property is a mobile home, manufactured home, modular home, or tiny home.

(2) None of the provisions of this section shall be applicable to any moneys received or collected by any county treasurer for any hospital established under the provisions of part 3 of article 3 of title 25, C.R.S., or for any health service district embracing only an entire county established under the provisions of article 1 of title 32, C.R.S.

(3) In addition to any other fees to which the county treasurer is entitled and notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, the county treasurer may charge an administrative fee of five dollars when the payment of any real property tax statement, exclusive of any license fees collected pursuant to sections 35-40-205 and 35-57.5-116, C.R.S., is less than ten dollars. The fee shall be credited to the county general fund, pursuant to section 30-25-105, to cover the cost of processing such tax statement.

(4) (a) On or before December 31, 2026, and by December 31 of every second year thereafter, the director of research of the legislative council appointed pursuant to section 2-3-304 (1) shall adjust the maximum dollar amount of the fees that may be charged by a county treasurer pursuant to subsections (1) and (1.7) of this section, effective January 1, 2027, and on January 1 of every second year thereafter, in accordance with the percentage change over the period in the United States department of labor, bureau of labor statistics, consumer price index, or a successor index, for Denver-Aurora-Lakewood for all items paid for by urban consumers and post the adjusted maximum allowable fee amounts, rounded upward to the nearest whole dollar, on the general assembly's website.

(b) On January 1, 2027, and on January 1 of every second year thereafter, each county treasurer shall post the adjusted fee amounts established by the director of research of the legislative council pursuant to subsection (4)(a) of this section on the county's website.

Source: L. 1891: p. 211, § 6. L. 1897: p. 159, § 1. R.S. 08: § 2537. C.L. § 7887. CSA: C. 66, § 25. CRS 53: § 56-4-2. L. 55: p. 385, § 1. L. 56: p. 147, §§ 1, 2. L. 59: p. 441, § 1. L. 63: p. 490, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 56-4-2. L. 71: p. 325, § 2. L. 73: p. 1433, § 1. L. 75: (1)(i), (1)(k), and (1)(n) amended, p. 1478, § 1, effective June 26. L. 79: (1)(q) added, p. 792, § 2, effective May 22. L. 81: (2) amended, p. 1612, § 9, effective July 1. L. 84: (3) added, p. 813, § 1, effective March 29. L. 87: (3) amended, p. 1202, § 1, effective April 30. L. 88: (1)(a) and (1)(c) amended, p. 823, § 35, effective May 24; (1)(d), (1)(f), (1)(g), and (1)(i) to (1)(n) amended and (1)(r) and (1)(s) added, p. 1105, § 1, effective January 1, 1989. L. 90: (1)(e) amended, p. 1695, § 15, effective June 9. L. 91: (1)(h) repealed, p. 1972, § 1, effective March 27; (1)(t) added, p. 2426, § 7, effective June 8. L. 94: (1)(a) and (1)(c) amended, p. 824, § 53, effective April 27. L. 95: (3) amended, p. 1105, § 45, effective May 31. L. 96: (2) amended, p. 472, § 7, effective July 1. L. 97: (3) amended, p. 182, § 13, effective March 31. L. 99: (1)(a) amended, p. 177, § 5, effective January 1, 2000. L. 2020: (1)(a) and (1)(s) amended, (1)(d) repealed, and (1.5) added, (HB 20-1077), ch. 80, p. 323, § 1, effective September 14. L. 2023: (1)(o) and (1)(p) amended, (SB 23-057), ch. 53, p. 188, § 1, effective January 1, 2024. L. 2026: IP(1), (1)(i), (1)(l), (1)(n), and (1)(r) amended, (1)(k) and (1)(t) repealed, and (1)(u), (1.7), and (4) added, (SB 26-144), ch. 135, p. 599, § 2, effective June 1.

Editor's note: (1) Subsections (1)(o)(I) and (1)(p)(I) provided for the repeal of subsections (1)(o)(I) and (1)(p)(I), respectively, effective July 1, 2026. (See L. 2023, p. 188.)

(2) Section 55(1) of chapter 135 (SB 26-144), Session Laws of Colorado 2026, provides that the act changing this section applies to any fee imposed, assessed, or collected by a county treasurer on or after June 1, 2026.

ANNOTATION

Only statutory fees collected. Since the compensation of any public official for services rendered in his official capacity is regulated by statute, he is entitled only to demand and receive fees for those services concerning which compensation by law attaches, because it is an inflexible rule that an official can demand only such fees or compensation as the law has definitely fixed and authorized for the performance of his official duties. Adams-Arapahoe County Sch. Dist. No. 28J v. Wolf, 30 Colo. App. 117, 489 P.2d 348 (1971).

Fees enter fund from which treasurer is compensated. The fees and commissions are to be collected by the treasurer, not as his compensation for the particular work for which the fee may be prescribed, but for the purpose of creating a fund out of which his salary or compensation is to be paid. The annual salary is what the treasurer gets for all the work that he does, it is compensation for his services. Bd. of County Comm'rs v. Otero Irrigation Dist., 56 Colo. 515, 139 P. 546 (1914).

The word "collect" is used to define the power of the county treasurers to gather in or receive money for taxes theretofore assessed, and since the fees provided for in this section are charged upon "all moneys received" by the treasurer, they fall within the above definition and are fees charged for the collection of taxes and are therefore collection fees. Adams-Arapahoe County Sch. Dist. No. 28J v. Wolf, 30 Colo. App. 117, 489 P.2d 348 (1971).

Taxing agencies, other than the state, pay the treasurer for collecting and remitting taxes by them levied. Farnik v. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 139 Colo. 481, 341 P.2d 467 (1959).

Commission on collection of irrigation district taxes. The moneys collected by the county treasurer for irrigation district taxes, whether the district was in one or more counties, came clearly within the description of money upon which the county treasurer by virtue of this section was required to charge and receive a commission. Bd. of County Comm'rs v. Otero Irrigation Dist., 56 Colo. 515, 139 P. 546 (1914).

Moneys on account of redemptions from tax sales exempt. The commission of one percent allowed by this section does not apply to moneys paid on account of redemptions from tax sales, but is intended to apply to moneys received by the treasurer on account of licenses, and from other sources of revenue. Mitchell v. Wheeler, 20 Colo. App. 159, 77 P. 361 (1904).

As is entry of assignment of certificate of purchase. This section did not authorize the treasurer to charge any fee whatever for entering on his books an assignment of a certificate of purchase, or for making any charge against a party who was entitled to redemption money on account of such assignment. Mitchell v. Wheeler, 20 Colo. App. 159, 77 P. 361 (1904).

And public school foundation taxes. A county treasurer does not have the right and duty to charge and receive a fee of one percent on taxes paid into his office pursuant to levies made by school districts under the terms of the "Public School Foundation Act of 1969". Adams-Arapahoe County Sch. Dist. No. 28J v. Wolf, 30 Colo. App. 117, 489 P.2d 348 (1971).

The public school foundation act creates an exception to, or amends, the general fees law by exempting the taxes collected under the foundation act from the provisions of this section. Adams-Arapahoe County Sch. Dist. No. 28J v. Wolf, 30 Colo. App. 117, 489 P.2d 348 (1971).