Property owners advised to review valuations from assessor - Phoenix Business Journal:

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million property valuation statements to ownersof commercial, residential and vacant properties across the The valuations show how much a propertuy is worth based on calculations by the Assessor’s and owners have only 60 days to appeal The notices going out through March 2 are not tax simply notices of the valur set for each The figures are used by all towns, and school, water, sewerr and fire districts acrosw the county to calculate tax bills. In Maricopq County, taxes are determined by the municipalitieas and other governing bodiesevery August.
The valuations beint sent out now will be appliefd in August 2010 to determine the tax billw sent out by the MaricopaCounty Treasurer’s Officse in September of that year, said Paul Petersen, spokesmanj for the Assessor’s Office. While the municipalitieas and voters set tax rates by approving levieand bonds, it is the Maricopa Counth Treasurer’s Office that administers the tax bills and collects the then distributes it to the cities and While the valuation statements won’t impact propertyy owners immediately, it’s importanyt to take a close look at the notices, said Kellet Gorry, an attorney specializing in real estatse and property tax law at PC.
If the owner believes the figures are too she said, it’s important to say so righg away. “Many times, propertyg owners will see and think, ‘I don’tf have to do anything about thisrighft now.’ But they only have 60 days to she said. Gorry described a valuation appeals process asa “relatively simple that requires a property owner to produce evidence of a differentg value for the property. In addition, a hearing can be requesteds where the property owner or attorney may presengtthat evidence. The process takes about three months, she said.
Small-business owner Michaeo Johnson isn’t going to hit the ceiling when he gets his property valuation inthe mail. Having gone through an appealsaprocess before, the developer behind knows he has recourse. Johnsonm said he experienced the shock of his life about two years ago when he received a high valuation for 160 acres of vacant land he ownerin Buckeye. Sent at about this time in his property valuation for 2008was $4.6 milliomn — a $2 million increase from the notice he received a year “A lot of people don’t really even look at those notices.
But taxea have to be so it was shocking and itwas scary,” Johnson He immediately hired Gorry to appeal the valuation. Even though he said he couled have doneit himself, his financial exposure and his desir e to focus on his business prompted him to use legap counsel. “This was worth it. You want to have someonse that does this on adailhy basis,” Johnson said. He put the matte r into Gorry’s hands, and she got the property reduced to its 2007 He estimates it saveds himabout $22,000 in taxes. The attorney’ fee was a small percentage of the about $5,000. “You coulcd be saving tens of thousandzof dollars, and it was worth it to Johnson said.
Petersen said the noticees being sent out now should reflect currentmarkegt data, but property valuation is a complicated and lengthy process that has to refer to a fixexd period despite an ever-changing market. “Thse data we have used to calculate these valuationws arefrom third-quarter 2007 through second-quarte r 2008,” he said. Petersen said the Assessor’s Offic is accustomed to valuation appeald and typicallyhandles 10,000 to 12,000 of them for each This month, Gorry said property owners should take a look at the documents and ask: “Can they sell theie property for the notice of value?
If they can’t hit that number, they should Maricopa County Assessor’s Office: Maricopaa County Treasurer’s Office: Rose Law Groul PC: