Burden heavier in suburbs

Rates are low in Colorado, but vary widely across state.

Property taxes are part and parcel of owning a home, but how much they weigh on finances can vary widely, depending on where someone lives.

Colorado homeowners pay a much smaller share of home values in property taxes on average than almost any other state — $1,179 a year or 0.632 percent of assessed property value, according to a nationwide study of property taxes from SmartAsset, a personal finance website.

By contrast, the property tax burden nationally averages $2,224 a year or 1.19 percent of assessed home values.

“People who aren’t thinking about how much property tax they pay compared to other people should be,” said AJ Smith, a vice president of content strategy at the New York firm.

Colorado’s low rates reflect measures that limit what homeowners have to pay versus commercial property owners and cap annual tax increases. But even within Colorado, a low-cost state, property taxes can vary widely.

Pitkin and Douglas county residents paid median property taxes topping $2,600, while homeowners in Costilla and Baca counties paid less than $400 a year, according to the study, which used data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2013 American Community Survey.

Homes in Pitkin and Douglas counties are some of the state’s most expensive and a fairer way to compare is by looking at property taxes — including county, school district and special districts that can range from fire departments to subdivision infrastructure — versus a home’s value.

Adams County residents, for example, pay an effective property tax rate of 0.87 percent, the highest in the state, while those in Gilpin County only pay 0.28 percent, the lowest, according to the study.

Besides Adams, other counties with elevated tax burdens are Douglas, Broomfield and Arapahoe counties, which all have had strong gains in population and new home construction.

Given today’s requirement that development pay its own way, special districts pile their mills on top of what the counties and school districts charge, creating a heavier tax burden.

“Adams County is growing, and we are poised to continue growing,” said Benjamin Dahlman, the county’s finance director.

Dahlman said the county has low-