Eastern Plains

Elbert County

9 Porch Notes tied to Elbert County — the local details that change from one part of Colorado to the next.

Money and taxes (1)

Money and taxes

An Elbert County tax bill has three moving parts

A property tax bill in Elbert County comes from actual value, a state assessment rate, and the mill levies of the districts that overlap a parcel.

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Water and land (2)

Water and land

A bedrock well in Elbert County comes with conditions, not unlimited water

A Denver Basin well permit spells out which aquifer the water comes from and how it may be used, so 'has a well' does not mean unlimited water.

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Water and land

In Elbert County, the water under your feet is the Denver Basin

Much of Elbert County depends on groundwater pumped from the layered bedrock aquifers of the Denver Basin, not from rivers or a big city pipeline.

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Outdoors and wildfire (3)

Outdoors and wildfire

Gambel oak thickets are a wildfire ladder fuel in Elbert County

Where Elbert County's grasslands meet pine, dense Gambel oak can carry a grass fire up into the trees, so the state forest service treats it as a fuel to manage near homes.

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Outdoors and wildfire

Grass fire is the wildfire to plan for in Elbert County

Elbert County's prairie, rolling grassland, and scattered pine create wildfire conditions where defensible space around a rural home matters before there is any smoke.

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Outdoors and wildfire

Jumping Cow is a state wildlife area, not a county park

Jumping Cow State Wildlife Area in Elbert County is a limited-access property managed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, with access rules very different from a public park.

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Local rules (1)

Local rules

Most of Elbert County is unincorporated, and the county makes the rules there

Outside the towns of Elizabeth, Kiowa, and Simla, land in Elbert County is unincorporated, so county zoning, building, septic, and fire rules apply rather than a town's.

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History and culture (2)

History and culture

The Elbert County Fair grew from an 1891 'Vegetable Day'

The Elbert County Fair traces back to an 1891 'Vegetable Day' in Elizabeth and moved through Elbert and Matheson before settling at the fairgrounds in Kiowa.

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History and culture

The Elbert County Historical Society & Museum preserves local history in Kiowa

The Elbert County Historical Society and Museum in Kiowa collects photographs, artifacts, and local histories — a good first stop for research, while official land records stay with the county.

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