We saw an article in the Durango Herald the other day noting that La Plata County has the fourth-lowest tax burden in the state, and it made us curious.  We found the web site where the figures were posted.

The study used assumptions about a typical household, and calculated its cost in state income tax, property tax, sales tax, and fuel tax.  Because Colorado has a flat-rate income tax, that’s a wash throughout the state.

If one examines only the other three costs, the lowest tax for this hypothetical household is in Las Animas County at $1,337.  The next lowest rates are found in Gilpin County ($1,370), San Miguel County ($1,467), La Plata County ($1,676), and Gunnison County ($1,777).  The median among the 58 counties measured was $2,292.  At the bottom, the most heavily taxed Colorado residents live in Adams County, where the same household will pay $3,635, almost 60 percent above the median and nearly triple the Las Animas rate.  The difference from the median in Adams County is almost exclusively due to higher property taxes.