ValueAppeal has spent the last several weeks analyzing property records in both Maricopa County and Pima County, Arizona and its good news for homeowners.
ValueAppeal’s mission is to ensure fairness in the property tax assessment process so no homeowner pays more property taxes than they should. As we expand our service into more and more counties across the country we usually discover a large number of homeowners in each county who are unfairly overassessed.
Fortunately we don’t have to be the bearer of bad news all the time. When we come across a county that is already doing a good job at fairly assessing properties we want to acknowledge it.
On that note…
Congratulations to the Assessors of Maricopa County and Pima County in Arizona!
ValueAppeal has spent the last several weeks analyzing property records from both of these Arizona counties and we’ve found some of the lowest overassessment rates in the country. In both Maricopa County and Pima County only about 1% of homes are overassessed. Unlike most counties, Maricopa and Pima seem to have tweaked the parameters of their mass appraisal algorithm to favor the homeowner over the county.
It’s important to remember that even though you may have a fairly assessed home, your property tax bill may still be likely to increase. The assessor only controls the assessed value of your home, not the tax rate. As assessed values go down, revenue requirements stay the same or increase, so local school districts, fire departments, and other public services simply increase the tax rate they apply to your assessed value.
Now if you’re one of the 11,600 overassessed homeowners in Maricopa County, Arizona, or one of the 7,600 overassessed homeowners in Pima County, Arizona, the low overall overassessment rate may not be much comfort to you. You may even feel unfairly singled out. The good news for you is that you have the right to appeal your assessment. All you have to do is submit evidence in the form of comparable sales to prove your case. (Note: the comparable sales must have sold PRIOR to the assessment date, so that house down the street that just sold a month or two ago will probably not be allowed.)
You can do the research to try to find comparable sales on your own, or you can use ValueAppeal’s quick and easy service to do it for you. If you get stuck, give us a call!
