How can two similarly priced Colorado Springs homes have very different property taxes?

The part everyone knows, and the part almost nobody checks

Your tax bill is assessed value multiplied by your combined mill levy. Buyers focus almost entirely on the first number and almost never on the second. But the Assessor can value two homes identically and the bills can still land thousands of dollars apart, because the mill levy is set by whichever districts serve that specific parcel.

If you want the underlying mechanics, start with How do property taxes work in Colorado Springs and El Paso County? This page is about why the second number moves so much.

All levies below are the certified rates for tax year 2025, billed in 2026, from the El Paso County Treasurer. They're revised every December, so treat them as illustrative of the spread rather than as current figures forever.

What stays the same, and what doesn't

Two levies apply nearly everywhere in the county:

• El Paso County: 6.857 mills
• Pikes Peak Library District: 2.938 mills

Everything else depends on your address.

School districts: a 32-mill spread

This is usually the largest single line on a residential bill, and El Paso County has more than a dozen districts.

From Peyton to Manitou Springs is a spread of more than 32 mills, on the same house.

City, town, or unincorporated

Colorado Springs has a notably low municipal levy. A home in unincorporated El Paso County pays no municipal levy at all, but will usually pick up a fire district instead, since city residents get fire service funded through the city budget.

Fire districts

Metro districts: the biggest variable of all

A metropolitan district is a financing mechanism that builds the roads, water lines, and parks in a new development and repays the debt through a levy on the homes inside it. The range across the county is extraordinary.

Two things worth noticing. Some districts carry a separate debt-service levy that stacks on top of the operating levy, so the real number is the sum. And numbered sub-districts within the same development can carry very different rates — Lorson Ranch #5 is 2.749 mills while Lorson Ranch #2 is 76.297. The name of the subdivision does not tell you the levy. The parcel does.

There's more on how these work in What is a metro district, and how can it affect my monthly housing cost?

Two homes, same price, very different bills

Here's what the spread looks like in practice. Both homes have an actual value of $560,000. Using the 2026 assessment rates, that produces $39,480 of assessed value for school levies and $34,272 for all other local levies.

Home A — inside Colorado Springs city limits, Colorado Springs D-11, no metro district.

School portion: $1,488. Other local: $439. Annual tax: about $1,927.

Home B — unincorporated El Paso County, D-49, Falcon Fire Protection District, inside a Rolling Hills Ranch metro district.

School portion: $1,802. Other local: $3,054. Annual tax: about $4,857.

Same value. About $2,930 a year apart, or roughly $244 a month. That is a real difference in what a household can afford, and it is invisible if you're comparing the two homes on list price alone.

These are real district combinations using certified levies, but they're an illustration, not a quote for any specific property. Additional small districts — water, sanitation, conservancy, improvement districts — may apply at a given address.

The part buyers don't expect

Here's what I'd want you to understand before you fall for a house: the tax difference does not show up in the price of the home, or in the loan.

The market doesn't reliably discount a high-levy property. So that $244 a month isn't offset anywhere. It comes straight out of your budget, and your lender will count it against you when they calculate what you qualify for.

That's why I look at everything collectively rather than line by line. You also have to evaluate the homeowners association and the insurance alongside the taxes, because not all metro district fees are the same and it literally varies neighborhood to neighborhood. Sometimes a metro district comes with no HOA fee, which changes the comparison. Sometimes you get both. The only way to know is to price out the specific two homes you're looking at, as a total monthly number.

That total — mortgage, property taxes, metro district taxes, HOA dues, and insurance — is what I walk through on every home, because it's the only figure that answers the question you're actually asking, which is what this house costs to live in.

How to check before you write an offer

1. Look up the parcel, not the neighborhood. The Assessor's property record and the Treasurer's mill levy table are both public. The tax district code on the tax statement identifies exactly which authorities serve that parcel.
2. Add up the levies yourself, or ask for the current tax bill. Then confirm whether any of it reflects an exemption belonging to the current owner, which disappears at closing.
3. Check for debt-service lines. A metro district's operating levy may not be the whole story.
4. Ask what else comes with it. HOA dues, and whether the metro district replaces or duplicates them.
5. Convert it to a monthly number and compare that, not the list prices.

If the value itself looks wrong rather than the levy, that's a different problem: see How do I appeal my property assessment in El Paso County?

What could change the answer

• Levies are recertified every December. Every figure on this page will move.
• Voter-approved measures. Districts can add mills with voter approval, and metro district debt service changes as bonds are issued and repaid.
• New metro districts. New developments frequently come with one, and early-stage districts sometimes show a low levy that rises once bonds are issued.
• Annexation. A parcel's municipal status can change.
• Exemptions. A senior or disabled veteran exemption on the current owner's bill makes a comparison misleading.
• The split assessment rates. School levies apply to full actual value while other local levies apply after the 10% value subtraction, so the school share carries slightly more weight than a straight mill comparison suggests.

When to talk with a professional

The El Paso County Assessor at (719) 520-6600 can confirm the tax district for a specific parcel, and the Treasurer at (719) 520-7900 publishes the certified levies and issues Certificates of Taxes Due. Your lender is the one who can tell you how a higher tax bill changes your qualifying number, which is often the decision that matters most. I'm a real estate professional, not a lender or a tax advisor.

About the author

Weldon Hobbs is a Colorado Springs REALTOR® and co-founder of Team Hobbs Realty. He is a member of The Platinum Group, REALTORS®, Colorado Springs' #1 independent brokerage, which pairs deep local expertise with premium marketing exposure. A U.S. Air Force Academy graduate and retired Air Force veteran, he and his family made more than 10 military moves. Since 2006, he and his wife, Kristen, have bought and sold their own homes, managed a portfolio of rental properties, and guided others through their own real estate decisions. He has also helped both family members and clients downsize, where the decisions are often complex and the process can feel overwhelming. Drawing on his background as a PMP® (Project Management Professional), he helps people break those decisions into clear, manageable steps.

Since beginning his real estate career, he has ranked in the top 7% by sales volume among the more than 4,000 members of the Pikes Peak Association of REALTORS®. He works with military families, seniors and downsizing clients, luxury and premium home sellers, and people relocating to Colorado Springs. He developed the Life → Wealth → Real Estate™ method, hosts the national YouTube channel Life & Real Estate Without Regret, and holds an MBA along with the SRES® (Seniors Real Estate Specialist®), MRP (Military Relocation Professional), and Certified Financial Coach credentials. More about Weldon

Sources

• El Paso County Treasurer, El Paso County Mill Levies — certified levies by taxing entity, tax year 2025 billed 2026 (county, library, municipalities, fire districts, school districts, metropolitan districts, water and sanitation districts). treasurer.elpasoco.com
• El Paso County Assessor, Abstract of Assessment & Understanding Your Value — 2026 assessment rates and the Assessor's role in valuation rather than rate-setting. assessor.elpasoco.com
• El Paso County Treasurer, Property Tax Statement Explanation — the tax district code identifies the taxing authorities serving a parcel. treasurer.elpasoco.com
• El Paso County Assessor, Tax Entity Maps. assessor.elpasoco.com
• Colorado General Assembly, SB24-233 and HB24B-1001 — split residential assessment rates and the 10%-of-value subtraction capped at $70,000. leg.colorado.gov