Understanding the Budget #10: Property Taxes - part 4

By Loretta Huff

While Loretta is a member of the Citizens' Budget Advisory Committee (CBAC), these articles reflect Loretta's personal understanding and do not represent positions of the CBAC.

The last article described the basics of calculating property tax. This article will describe how the property tax is distributed based on the Mill Levy.

The 2024 total Mill Levy for most properties within the city limits of Golden is 90.8060. As a comparison, these are sample mill levies for properties near Golden.

Pleasant View: 89.3580,
Lookout Mountain: 105.2310
Arvada: 96.8690

Golden's Portion of the Mill Levy
Golden voters approved a ballot initiative in November 2023 to increase the mill levy. The initiative requested a mill levy increase to establish a dedicated, ongoing funding mechanism for the Golden Fire Department rather than continuing to fund the Fire Department out of General Fund revenues. This increased Golden’s mill levy from 12.3400 to 18.3400 in 2024. The taxes generated from the 12.3400 mill levy go to the General Fund. The taxes generated by the additional 6.0000 mill levy go directly to the Golden Fire Department Fund, which was established within the budget in 2024.

Downtown Golden's Additional Mill Levy
Within the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) boundary (see the area outlined in blue at this link), there is an additional mill levy of 5.000. Golden Downtown General Improvement District (GDGID) adds an additional mill levy of 1.7520. (GDGID is approved at 2.3520 but has been reduced to 1.7520 as described in GDGID Resolution 24-03.) This results in a total mill levy of 97.5580 for downtown properties.

So, if the majority of property tax does not go directly to the City of Golden, where does it go? Here is the breakdown of the Mill Levy for Golden properties.

Mill Levy for Most Properties in Golden: