In a day and age of seemingly ever-rising costs, many La Plata County residents will find the property tax bills arriving in their mailboxes soon are lower than last year.

“Most people’s taxes will go down,” said Craig Larson, La Plata County assessor.

There are some exceptions to that, however, Larson said.

Residents in Ignacio could see a slight increase in taxes, attributable to a voter-approved tax levy for the schools. Property owners in small metro districts with debt and in areas where there is little or no gas and oil work also could see some of the line items on their bills rise, he said.

That’s because the tax rates associated with bonds are set up to automatically rise to ensure the debts can be paid.

Even when the taxes go down, however, Larson’s office always gets calls. Often, the callers question the listed value of their property, he said.

The assessor’s office derives those figures from actual sales that occurred two years previous. It means the bill doesn’t necessarily reflect the value of locals’ properties today, or even last year. Property values then were dropping, which caused the reduced tax bills residents have begun seeing.

The situation normally would put a hard pinch on local government revenues.

In fact, many government agencies in other states continue to struggle with the budget realities that falling property values are causing. How each property owner and government is affected varies by state and how the tax structures and assessment policies are set up.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service, which analyzes and assesses the credit worthiness of public and private entities, reported this week that the “gulf” is widening between government agencies’ abilities to react to changing tax revenues and property values. Some are faring quite well, while others continue to struggle.

And though signs of economic improvement are emerging, the ratings service said it expects the nation’s growth and property value changes to be modest in 2012.

“A continued slow pace of economic recovery makes it unlikely that the housing market will post a robust rebound,” the S&P report said.

Assessments from gas and oil work in the county change annually, rather than every two years when other property values are assessed, and a busy 2010 for producers caused a 25 percent increase in gas prices.

That helped offset the losses homeowners saw in their home values on this month’s tax bills.

Next year could bring a different story, however, as gas prices continue to fall amid an expanded production market that’s pulling more gas from America’s soils.

“Next January, we’ll feel the pain of last year’s low gas prices,” Larson said.

As for those property owners who still are seeing their home values fall, Larson said the savings will be evident when the tax bills go out in January 2014.

hscofield@durangoherald.com