Ultimate Pima County Real Property Tax Guide for 2024
Guide Overview
By reading this recap, you’ll get a practical sense of real property taxes in Pima County and what you should understand when your property’s appraised value is set. Whether you are currently a resident, only thinking about moving to Pima County, or interested in investing in its property, learn how local property taxes work.
Average Property Tax Rate in Pima County
Pima County Property Taxes Range
Pima County Property Taxes Range
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You May Be Charged an Unfair Property Tax Amount
You may be unaware that your real property levy is an overassessment compared to your house’s fair market value. No surprise though when presumed similar properties in districts are assigned the same fair market value predicated upon just a few — again presupposed — representative properties’ estimated values. Also there’s the human error factor, i.e. mistakes are predestined. With any potential overassessment, there’s a need to quickly assemble the facts and consider submitting a formal appeal.
If you’ve refinanced not long ago, be sure identical billings haven’t been imposed. Examine your property’s billing statement judiciously. Bill details are quickly obtainable online for everybody to review. Match your property’s set market value with similar houses in your neighborhood while at the same time paying special attention to new sales. As well think about the possible influence of new market trends on real estate prices in total.
Should you discover what seems to be a too high tax assessment, it’s time to counter swiftly. No worries should you feel overwhelmed. There are appeal firms poised to take on your challenge that just bill on a percentage of any tax savings. More details later.
What Is a Tax Protest Procedure?
You can question your county’s appraisal of your real estate tax value if you think it is greater than it should be. The county is the one that appraised the real estate and it will consider your appeal.
You can find the necessary protest process and the documents on the county’s website or at the county tax office. Take your time reviewing all the regulations before you begin. If you do not adhere to the procedures to the letter, your appeal might not be acknowledged.
The county will mail you a notice of the real property tax assessment and the amount of time you have to submit your protest. If you do not make that time period, you may give up your right to appeal the valuation.
It’s important that you get a copy of the complete assessment report from the county. The report may decide whether or not you have a credible argument. You will have a stronger likelihood of getting a reassessment of your real property if mistakes were made in the report.
If you file a complete package with supporting documentation, the county might make a decision without making you proceed with an official appeal. In any event, you should be ready to present your case in person to the county’s review board. They will only be concerned with seeing proof that the assessment is wrong and nothing else. General complaints about property tax rates or how quickly property tax values have appreciated won’t help you with your appeal.
The posted procedures should include how you can protest the county’s decision at a higher level if you think it is wrong. In the event you need to defend your position in the court, you may need service of one of the best property tax attorneys in Pima County AZ.
Objecting to your property’s tax value is your right. But, before beginning a time-consuming procedure, maybe you ought to reduce the assessment to dollars. Calculate how much your actual real estate tax payment will be with the increase and any tax exemptions you qualify for. Then ask yourself if the size of the increase justifies the work it requires to challenge the appraisal.
How to Get Your Taxes Reduced for Free?
Pay only if you achieve a tax saving when you sign up with protest firms on a contingent fee basis. You’ll pay an amount depending on any tax decrease. In the case of no savings, you pay nothing!
Protest companies are motivated to fully dissect your assessment, prep for and participate in conferences, uncover mistakes, discover missing exemptions, and prepare for any litigation. They’re particularly assertive on exemption issues, which have shown to be confusing and sometimes result in court challenges.
Two established approaches for appraisal revisions are mostly used to bolster appeals. They’re called “sales comparisons” and “unequal appraisals”. Both involving nearby real estate, sales comparisons appraise market values using recent sales data while unequal appraisals expose appraisal imbalances between similar real property.
Area independent appraisal firms that specialize in thorough evaluations often utilize the sales comparison process. Many times required, entire reexaminations are performed personally. Undertaken by State-licensed appraisers, these reassessments are almost beyond dispute. Only a thorough review of the complete appraisal process could conceivably upset the specialty firm’s revisions. For example, three comparable homes sold for $500K, while the re-evaluated house requires new shingles costing $10,000, then its true worth drops to $490,000.
Larger tax specialty firms typically employ unequal appraisal data even if current market values aren’t unrealistic. A localized list of equivalent properties having nearly the same appraised market values is assembled. Then comes a contrasting of these real properties’ respective tax assessment amounts within each group. Properties reflecting a difference with tax assessed being 10% or more above the representative median level will be pinpointed for more study. Clients are frequently charged a percentage based upon any tax decreases, so there’s no out-of-pocket cost or any fee at all without realizing some tax cutback.
Look for a company meeting your needs in the directory featuring the best property tax protest companies in Pima County AZ.
How Does Pima County Real Estate Tax Work?
Arizona gives real estate taxation rights to thousands of neighborhood-based governmental units. Typically, the taxes are collected under one billing from the county. Receipts are then disbursed to associated taxing units via formula. Overall, there are three stages to real estate taxation: establishing tax levies, appraising values, and then collecting the tax.
Taxing units include city, county governments, and various special districts e.g. public colleges. All of them are legal governing entities administered by elected or appointed officers. These districts, for example public schools and colleges, serve a specified area, i.e. a county, township, school district, and others.
A city’s property tax rules should be consistent with state constitutional rules and regulations. Real property not exempted has to be taxed equally and uniformly at current values. Appropriate notification of any levy raise is also a requirement.
Within those confines, the city sets tax levies. Reserved for the county, however, are appraising real estate, sending out billings, taking in collections, carrying out compliance, and resolving disagreements.
Pima County performs property appraisals for cities and special purpose public units. Once more, Arizona-enacted law imposes regulations related to assessment practices. This is to make sure property appraisals are mainly performed equitably. Here, conceivably misapplied estimating techniques and simple mistakes are often rich areas for challenges.
Typically, one of three appraisal methodologies (with many versions) is used to evaluate real estate. A Sales Comparison approach is established by contrasting a property with similar properties sold not long ago in the same location. An Income Method for commercial real estate measures the expected business income to establish present fair market value. One Cost Approach variation says a commercial property’s worth should equal the current expense for a building replacement while accounting for depreciation and land’s worth.
Generally at least once every three years a county appraiser re-examines and considers to revise property’s estimated market value. That value is multiplied times a combined tax levy, i.e. the sum of levies imposed by all related public units. They range from the county to city, school district, and various special purpose entities such as water treatment plants, water parks, and property maintenance facilities.
Who and How Determines Pima County Property Tax Rates?
Arizona statutorial rules dictate fair real property market values be set by counties. Any revenue consequence of that evaluation cannot be a consideration in this process.
The state rules require new real estate appraisals once in a few years. Ordinarily, a broad-based appraisal strategy is utilized with that same methodology applied en masse to similar property types. Absent individual property inspections, unique property characteristics, possibly impacting property’s market value, are overlooked.
In the beginning, when new properties were constructed, appraisers amassed descriptive tax rolls. They contained a description of all properties by address. Properties were classified based upon various factors, e.g. size, use, and construction type. Other inputs such as age and area were also considered when assembling these groups by class, which then had market values assigned en masse. Without a visit, the sole current, confirmed data assessors possess to rely upon while conducting regular new estimates are recent sales stats.
Mandated by state law, this procedure is designed to allocate the tax burden in a fair manner across the state with equitable property tax assessments. While this en masse method makes manageable an otherwise staggering job, it also promises inexact appraisal results. Many times this is a fertile area to uncover appeal evidence!
The city as well as every other in-county governmental taxing unit can now calculate needed tax rates because market value totals have been recorded. As computed, a composite tax rate times the market worth total will provide the county’s entire tax burden and include individual taxpayer’s share. Thus it’s largely all about budgeting, first establishing an annual expenditure total. Next, it’s a question of establishing what tax rate will produce needed tax revenue. Theoretically, expected total tax receipts equal planned expenses.
Arizona has numerous local governments, including counties and special districts such as public schools, healthcare facilities, and water treatment districts. They all determine their individual tax levies depending on fiscal requirements. Almost all the sub-county entities have arrangements for Pima County to assess and collect their tax.
Generally this budgetary and tax levy-setting exercise is augmented by public hearings assembled to discuss budget expenditure and tax affairs. Pima County residents have the right under state law to demand a public vote should proposed tax hikes top set limits.
Specifically stated under the Arizona Constitution, taxing entities, such as your city, have crubs on increasing taxes. Actually, tax rates can’t be raised until the general public is first notified of that intent. Then a public hearing on any proposed increase must take place before it occurs.
If Pima County property taxes are too high for your wallet causing delinquent property tax payments, you may want to obtain a quick property tax loan from lenders in Pima County AZ to save your property from a looming foreclosure.
What Are Pima County Real Estate Taxes Used For?
Real estate tax funds are the lifeblood of local community budgets. Together with Pima County, they count on real property tax payments to support their public services.
Arizona cities depend on the real estate tax to sustain public services. The state relies on property tax revenues a lot. Apart from the county and its cities, various specific-purpose entities, like college districts, sanitation authorities, as well as others, are among tax revenue source’s many beneficiaries.
An important piece of real estate tax revenues goes toward public schools. Other big-ticket items are local government worker salaries/benefits and public safety. Residents’ safety with police and fire departments is a substantial draw on the budget, as well. Highway construction and maintenance, streetlights, sidewalks, and public transportation — all count on property taxes. Another requisite is water and sewage treatment facilities, as well as garbage removal. Also there are leisure facilities, including picnic areas, and swimming pools. No surprise that with all these obligations, it’s a big tax bill!
How Are Property Taxes Handled at Closing in Pima County?
Most often complete-year real property levies are remitted upfront when the year starts. That raises the question: who pays property taxes at closing when it happens in the middle of the year? When buying a house, ownership is transferred from the seller to the buyer. And so does the responsibility for paying real estate taxes. As a result, the purchaser will be settling up the seller for the post-closing part of the levy.
Generally those proportional refunds won’t be paid straight to past owners. Instead, the lender, closing attorney, or escrow officer will include that refundable tax with other buyer financial responsibilities at closing.