The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Value declines by two-thirds in two years
The total assessed value of the Elevation Hotel & Spa has decreased dramatically to $51,333,290. That’s down from the total assessed value in 2009 of $150,163,310, and also represents a significant decline from the original notice of value sent by the Gunnison County assessor’s office in May of this year. That notice of value was for $108,064,880.
“We came up with a value based on a mass appraisal approach, and the Elevation filed an appeal at our level in May,” said George Lickiss, Gunnison County appraiser analyst. “I took a close look at our [comparable properties], and reduced the value somewhat at that point.”
In response to the adjustment, CB CC Development, LLC filed an appeal with the County Board of Equalization on behalf of the Elevation and had a tax representative, Brian Brandstetter of Property Tax Service in Texas contact the assessor’s office.
“The Elevation had an appraisal done on the property in order to determine what market value was in the statutory time frames,” Brandstetter said.
Lickiss also reassessed and found some key differences between the residential units in the Elevation and the comparable property, the Lodge at Mountaineer Square, including different views and the fact that the Elevation does not have fireplaces. According to Lickiss, his revised findings were within 2 percent of the independent consultant’s. He stipulated to the consultant’s numbers because she was able to enter every room, whereas he was not.
“The Elevation also protested commercial units,” Lickiss said. “During the course of appeals, we received more income information to develop a typical income and applied that to the commercial units.”
The drop in the total assessed value reflects a decrease of approximately two-thirds and will likely have significant impacts for the Mt. Crested Butte budget.
“When we have that kind of drastic drop it impacts our mil levy and impacts the Downtown Development Authority [DDA] and the valuation in the DDA and the cash flow we’ll receive for the DDA. It’s a pretty negative impact,” said town manager Joe Fitzpatrick.
According to Fitzpatrick, the DDA uses its cash flow to leverage bonds to make capital improvements for economic development in downtown Mt. Crested Butte. The full impact of the Elevation’s decline in valuation will be unknown, however, until more information is available regarding property valuations throughout the rest of Mt. Crested Butte.
