When you think of the word audit, you may automatically think of the Internal Revenue Service and income taxes, or perhaps disastrous financial reporting by companies like Enron and Worldcom spring to mind. There are many types of audits, but they all have a common purpose -quality control of information and processes.

Just like many other private and public organizations, the Douglas County Assessor's Office is audited annually. When the Gallagher Amendment to the Colorado Constitution was passed in 1982, among other things it required the state legislature to conduct a "property assessment study" each year for every Colorado county. The study -or audit, includes a procedural analysis and statistical analysis to make sure that each county is valuing property fairly and equitably. The results of the Audits are presented to the State Board of Equalization each October, and the Board may order a reappraisal for counties that don't meet procedural and valuation standards set by Colorado law.

So what does a Reappraisal Order mean? Just as failing an IRS audit can be expensive to an individual, or a company's negative financial audit affects stockholder investments, a Reappraisal Order is very costly to the jurisdiction who receives one. The assessment audit was added to state law because voters felt it was important that all Colorado counties assess property for tax purposes using the same standards and the same methodology. If a county consistently undervalues property, it means that the state must provide more funding to the school districts in that county than it should. When this occurs, which is very seldom anymore, the state tells the county that it must revalue the property, and refund excess school funding to the state. It may be that the county is not able to conduct the reappraisal on its own because of a staffing shortage or lack of experienced staff. In such a situation the county must pay for the State Division of Property Taxation to conduct the reappraisal.

The Douglas County Assessor's Office has never failed an audit, nor even come close. Our Analysts monitor our valuation statistics even more closely than the state auditor, and our staff works hard to ensure that all Douglas County properties from the newest subdivision, to our historic ranches, to the National Forest area are valued for tax purposes with equity and fairness. Complete Douglas County Audit Reports are now available on our website for 2007 and past years to 2003. Please come visit our website at: www.douglas.co.us/assessor to view and download our Audits, or to investigate the many resources we have available to the public.