Reading property value assessments can be tricky

By now most of us have received the “blue paper” from the current Pinal County assessor.

While the title located at the top indicates that it is your 2009 residential notice of Value, that title is somewhat misleading.

Note the value to most Pinal County taxpayers in 2008 took a significant increase in both the full cash value and the limited property value. The 2009 full cash value, in most cases, has decreased while the limited property value has increased. Arizona Revised Statutes actually refers to this number as the “LTV” or limited tax value.

The tax bill that you will receive in September is based on 2007 values. Likewise the 2008 values shown on the notice are used to compute the 2009 tax bills and the 2009 values, which are estimates, would be used to compute the 2010 tax bills.

This is a prime example of why the Arizona laws regarding property taxes are in need of serious adjustment. To add additional confusion, the full cash value actually applies against your secondary taxes and the limited property value applies against your primary taxes.

The county assessor is responsible for creating an appearance that your 2009 values will result in a lower tax bill, which is likely not to be the case.

According to a federal report, (see http://www.ofheo.gov/media/hpi/4q07hpi.pdf), the pricing of homes in Arizona decreased by 1.2 percent in the last quarter of 2007. Perhaps the current Pinal County assessor is confused or simply boosting the Pinal County income on the backs of property owners as he has increased average home prices by at least 28 percent from 2006 to 2008.

This information was extracted from the assessor’s Web site in late February. A prudent person might wonder if Pinal County Assessor L. Paul Larkin, is reading any real estate economic reports.

Obviously, if he is reading the reports, he is not applying the economic news to property valuations for calculating Pinal County Property Taxes. Then, of course, he has a proven track record of increasing property values. This becomes a very valid reason to retire the current assessor.

Ron Reinagel is a candidate for the office of assessor in Pinal County.

Submitted image