News
Cochise County Taxes due in October
MICHAEL SULLIVAN
Wick News Service
It's the time of year property owners do not look forward to - tax time.
Cochise County property tax notices were mailed out recently and are due during October.
Payments received after Nov. 1 will be considered delinquent if the tax is $100 or less. If more than $100, there is the option to pay a full-year tax before Dec. 31. In that case, no interest is charged on the first-half tax.
It's possible to pay half of the tax bill now and the balance in March.Then, the delinquency line starts at May 1.
A new payment option is now available. Taxpayers can pay online or by e-check. For more information, log onto www.cochisecounty.com.
There's one bit of good news for some taxpayers, however. The tax rate dropped from $9.6385 per $1,000 assessment to $9.3715 for parcels within Tax Area Code 6830, the Sierra Vista city limits.
Each tax area code pays into different taxing authorities. The rate can fluctuate from year to year, depending upon the needs of the various taxing units, said Brenda Brewster, current tax specialist with the Cochise County Treasurer's Office. Those taxing entities tell the county Finance Department and Treasurer's Office how much tax revenue they need for the upcoming year, so the Treasurer's Office can verify that enough money will be collected.
Using updated property appraisal data, the Assessor's Office submits the assessment values with taxpayer information to the state Department of Revenue for creating the tax rolls. The Treasurer's Office verifies the tax rates before approval and adoption by the Board of Supervisors and puts all the information together to calculate the real and personal property tax billings for the current year.
Personal property consists of mobile homes, commercial equipment and farm and ranch equipment and machinery.
There currently are 113,679 parcels of real property in the county and 8,730 of personal property. The tax levy on real property amounts to $72,669,668.76, while the personal property tax levy is $2,846,807.04.
Certain taxpayers, such as widows, disabled people, nonprofits and businesses with multiple locations in the state qualify for some tax exemptions. All exemptions except the latter must be applied for every year.
Property owners who made improvements to their property during the past year can expect to pay more taxes, based on a higher assessed value of the property. In some cases, assessments will actually decrease, Brewster said, if a property owner stood pat while neighbors made improvements.
Assessments are based on state guidelines, along with market value. Values may increase if an area becomes popular and property sales increase.
"Assessments is the biggest area of complaints," Brewster said.
Appeal instructions, as well as payment instructions, are provided on the backs of the property valuation notices.
Questions about valuations should be directed to the Assessor's Office. Property owners should have received a "notice of value" card at the end of February, listing their assessed valuation. Objections should have been raised right away, but sometimes it takes the tax bill to trigger a reaction.
(Editor's Note: Michael Sullivan is a reporter for the Sierra Vista Herald.)
Your County Tax Bill
Interpreting the tax notice form can be tricky. The following are explanations to help you read your tax bill.
The tax roll number at the top right changes yearly and only represents the number of the billing.
The tax area code tells the taxpayer what they are paying into, such as special taxing districts.
The line under the 2004 tax summary that says "Less state aid to education" is a reduction of tax from the state for living in your home. This tax rate does not appear on the bill. Rental property is not included.
Primary property taxes are those "ad valorem" taxes levied for the maintenance and operations of the county, city, town, school district, community college district and the state. It is the gross tax calculated on the property's limited value. Limited value also is known as primary tax.
Secondary property taxes are levied to pay the redemption charges on any bonded indebtedness or other long-term obligation lawfully incurred by any taxing jurisdiction; to pay additional amounts required pursuant to an election to exceed a budget, expenditure or tax limitation or a particular taxing jurisdiction; taxes levied by "limited purpose districts."
The property tax calculation boxes explain how the total tax billings are arrived at. The assessment line lists the percentages of limited value for commercial (25 percent) and residential (10 percent) properties.
Wick News Service
It's the time of year property owners do not look forward to - tax time.
Cochise County property tax notices were mailed out recently and are due during October.
Payments received after Nov. 1 will be considered delinquent if the tax is $100 or less. If more than $100, there is the option to pay a full-year tax before Dec. 31. In that case, no interest is charged on the first-half tax.
It's possible to pay half of the tax bill now and the balance in March.Then, the delinquency line starts at May 1.
A new payment option is now available. Taxpayers can pay online or by e-check. For more information, log onto www.cochisecounty.com.
There's one bit of good news for some taxpayers, however. The tax rate dropped from $9.6385 per $1,000 assessment to $9.3715 for parcels within Tax Area Code 6830, the Sierra Vista city limits.
Each tax area code pays into different taxing authorities. The rate can fluctuate from year to year, depending upon the needs of the various taxing units, said Brenda Brewster, current tax specialist with the Cochise County Treasurer's Office. Those taxing entities tell the county Finance Department and Treasurer's Office how much tax revenue they need for the upcoming year, so the Treasurer's Office can verify that enough money will be collected.
Using updated property appraisal data, the Assessor's Office submits the assessment values with taxpayer information to the state Department of Revenue for creating the tax rolls. The Treasurer's Office verifies the tax rates before approval and adoption by the Board of Supervisors and puts all the information together to calculate the real and personal property tax billings for the current year.
Personal property consists of mobile homes, commercial equipment and farm and ranch equipment and machinery.
There currently are 113,679 parcels of real property in the county and 8,730 of personal property. The tax levy on real property amounts to $72,669,668.76, while the personal property tax levy is $2,846,807.04.
Certain taxpayers, such as widows, disabled people, nonprofits and businesses with multiple locations in the state qualify for some tax exemptions. All exemptions except the latter must be applied for every year.
Property owners who made improvements to their property during the past year can expect to pay more taxes, based on a higher assessed value of the property. In some cases, assessments will actually decrease, Brewster said, if a property owner stood pat while neighbors made improvements.
Assessments are based on state guidelines, along with market value. Values may increase if an area becomes popular and property sales increase.
"Assessments is the biggest area of complaints," Brewster said.
Appeal instructions, as well as payment instructions, are provided on the backs of the property valuation notices.
Questions about valuations should be directed to the Assessor's Office. Property owners should have received a "notice of value" card at the end of February, listing their assessed valuation. Objections should have been raised right away, but sometimes it takes the tax bill to trigger a reaction.
(Editor's Note: Michael Sullivan is a reporter for the Sierra Vista Herald.)
Your County Tax Bill
Interpreting the tax notice form can be tricky. The following are explanations to help you read your tax bill.
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