Full-service hotel Denver
$630K
a year for four years
Commercial Property Tax Appeals in Colorado and across the West
National-firm valuation work, done personally by the principal who ran a national firm's Mountain West practice. A published fee of 8% to 20% of savings, not a flat 25%.
-
$2B+ in market value appealed to the Colorado state board since 2023
-
Former Managing Director at DMA, 13 years in commercial property tax
-
8% to 20% per property, published, in writing before you sign
The Initial Consultation carries no fee. Written answer within one week.
Colorado counties, including
- Adams
- Arapahoe
- Boulder
- Broomfield
- Denver
- Douglas
- El Paso
- Jefferson
- Larimer
- Weld
Who does the work on your file
At a national firm, your building is one of a few hundred on a salaried analyst's desk in May. The Managing Director sees it if it reaches a hearing, and nobody on that floor loses a dollar if your hardest case is never filed.
At SVA the Managing Director is the analyst. I read the notice, build the income approach, file the protest and argue the hearing myself, on a fee that exists only if your taxes go down. The valuation standards are the ones I held a national practice to. The incentive points at your tax bill instead of a book of business.
The largest hotel result of my career came from walking the property with the operator. The prior consultant had valued it from the income statement without setting foot on site. A large share of the food-and-beverage revenue was handled off-property, and taking it out of the capitalized income saved $630,000 a year for four years.
Charlie Young, Principal
A published fee that falls as the tax bill grows
Contingency on realized savings. The larger the tax bill on the notice, the lower the rate.
SVA
From 20% down to 8% as the bill grows
Set per property by its own tax bill: under $200,000 pays 20%, and $2 million and up pays 8%.
Many firms
A flat 25%, on every property
One rate whatever the size of the bill.
The fee matrix
Each property's row is set by its original tax liability, the tax the notice of value produces before any reduction, and the rate is written into the engagement letter.
Savings estimator and fee details| Original tax liability | SVA rate | Flat 25% |
|---|---|---|
| Under $200K | 20% | 25% |
| $200K to under $500K | 18% | 25% |
| $500K to under $750K | 15% | 25% |
| $750K to under $1M | 12% | 25% |
| $1M to under $2M | 10% | 25% |
| $2M and above | 8% | 25% |
What a flat 25% costs on one large building
The evidence in that case is one rent roll, one income approach and one hearing: the same work a $500,000 bill takes. The hours do not scale with the size of the bill. A flat 25% invoice does.
The headquarters campus below saved $1.34 million in tax for 2025 alone. At a flat 25%, that one year is a $335,000 invoice.
Run your own bill through the estimator| One building, $5,000,000 annual tax bill | Flat 25% | SVA, 8% row |
|---|---|---|
| Over-assessed by 20%: tax saved per year | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 |
| Saved over Colorado's two-year cycle | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 |
| Consultant's invoice for the cycle | $500,000 | $160,000 |
| What the owner keeps | $1,500,000 | $1,840,000 |
Compare terms, not only rates
| What to check in your agreement | SVA |
|---|---|
| Whether fees continue after you end the agreement | Nothing owed on any appeal not yet filed; 30 days' notice, no exit fee |
| Whether the consultant's authority renews every year until you revoke it | Your written go-ahead for each filing |
| Added appraisal or attorney costs at the state board | One matrix rate from the assessor through the state board |
| Minimums, retainers or filing fees | None |
Four questions for your current consultant
If you already have a firm, ask these before the 2027 notices mail. The answers are in the agreement and the filing history, not the pitch.
-
01
What share of my portfolio did you file last cycle, and what did you decline?
A 95% win rate usually means a tight intake filter. The money lives in the arguable cases that never got filed.
-
02
Who argued my hearing, and were they in the room?
In the 2025 county-board record, the clearest predictor of a win was whether anyone argued the case at all.
-
03
What is my fee on the second year of the cycle, and what do I owe if I leave?
Some agreements carry a tail on work already started, and some renew every year until revoked.
-
04
On my largest building, what did the invoice come to per hour of work?
A flat 25% bills the size of the tax bill, not the work. The matrix above is built the other way round.
Colorado's two largest filers settled 49% and 57% of their state-board cases. The 90% to 100% win rates belong to the smallest books. A win rate measures what was not filed.
Two ways in, depending on what you own
The same Initial Consultation, the same matrix and the same written reporting. Only the starting point differs.
Funds and portfolio owners
Carve one state out of the book for one cycle. Every parcel is priced on its own row, the incumbent keeps the rest, and the monthly roll-up is built to be forwarded to a partner or a lender.
- The Single-State Pilot: one letter of authorization, one cycle, the incumbent keeps the rest
- Five or more properties: a written per-property schedule at or below the matrix
- A monthly status memo, three written checkpoints, and an Excel and PDF roll-up
- A written second opinion on what the incumbent did not file
Owner-operators and tax teams
One building or one personal-property schedule, starting with a written read that says whether filing is worth it, and says so plainly when it is not.
- The Initial Consultation: send the address, get a signed memo within one week
- Never filed? Colorado's 2024 taxes can still be challenged by abatement until December 31, 2026
- A written review of the business personal property declaration against the county's schedule
- Should you appeal at all? The framework, with the honest cases for not filing
Own hotels, offices or industrial? See how SVA reviews Colorado hotel assessments, office buildings and warehouses and plants, including the 2026 state board decisions on lease-up deductions.
How an engagement works from first review to invoice
-
01
Initial Consultation
A review of the assessment that ends in a written memo: defensible or not, the dollars at stake, the exact rate.
-
02
Engagement letter
The fee for each property is in writing before you sign.
-
03
Filing and hearings
From assessor protest to county board to state board, SVA prepares and presents each case.
-
04
Invoice only from realized savings
If the taxes do not go down, there is no invoice.
Services for commercial owners
Real and business personal property, for the current year and the years still open.
Assessment appeals
Protests and appeals from the assessor to the state board. Each case rests on market evidence for the valuation date that governs it.
Details on assessment appealsBusiness personal property
A written review of the equipment declaration and the county's value. Protests, abatements and amended schedules are filed only on your instruction.
Details on business personal propertyPrior-year abatement
Taxes already paid can come back when an open year was overvalued. Each year gets its own file or do-not-file answer.
Details on prior-year abatementAcquisition due diligence
What the building will cost to hold after closing, and how the price will bear on the next revaluation. Written for buyers under contract.
Details on acquisition due diligencePortfolio and single-state pilots
A national portfolio can move one state to SVA for one cycle while the incumbent keeps the rest. Five or more properties get a per-property schedule at or below the matrix.
Details on portfolio and single-state pilotsResearch and benchmarks
Check a Colorado assessment against 19,939 properties in the benchmark database. The published research also draws on 8,058 Colorado state-board cases.
Details on research and benchmarksResults from prior national firms
Six cases from Charlie Young's years at national firms, reported without client names.
Resort timeshare Colorado
60% cut
$790K over the cycle
Data center
$110K
a year
Call center Utah
$700K
refund
Distribution warehouse Aurora
$623K
over the cycle
Headquarters campus Denver metro
$1.34M
saved for 2025 alone
Results Charlie Young achieved at prior national firms, before founding SVA. Results from SVA engagements will be published here with client consent. Every property and jurisdiction is different; past results do not guarantee future outcomes, and engagement details are published only where they cannot identify a client.
Colorado first, then the West
Twelve states, one fee schedule, and a written appeal guide for each.
- WAWashington
- MTMontana
- OROregon
- WYWyoming
- NENebraska
- IAIowa
- CACalifornia
- NVNevada
- UTUtah
- COColorado, home
- KSKansas
- AZArizona
Colorado is home and most of the work. Utah hearings are attended in person; the other ten states are taken on case by case, each with its own written appeal guide and the same fee schedule.
All twelve state guidesColorado 2027 notices mail about May 1, and protests are due June 1. See what the 2027 reappraisal changes and all appeal deadlines. Denver owners: Denver commercial property tax consultant.
Nothing saved, nothing owed
SVA works on contingency only. The fee is a share of the tax actually saved. No retainers, no minimums.
Start with an Initial Consultation
Send the property address. Nothing is filed without your written instruction.
The Initial Consultation carries no fee. Written answer within one week.
Denver area? Coffee or lunch beats a call. Email or call to set one up.
- 1745 Shea Center Dr, Suite 400
Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 - 720-722-2911
- charlieyoung@svatax.com