Frequently Asked Questions

Agricultural Classification is determined by the County Assessor’s Office for land valuation purposes. It's intended to offer commercial agricultural operations a reduced tax liability IF they qualify. To be classified as agricultural by the Assessor, the property must be a commercial operation that is in production with a reasonable expectation of profit according to generally accepted agricultural practices. Please refer to Arizona Revised Statute (ARS) § 42-12151 for a description of businesses that may qualify.

Agricultural Exemption is determined by the County Planning & Development Department, not the Assessor. It has to do with how the property is zoned, utilized, and developed within the County’s land use jurisdiction.

Agricultural Classification and Agricultural Exemption ARE NOT mutually exclusive. Having one DOES NOT automatically qualify the property for the other. If the property does qualify for both, the Planning & Development department will ask the Assessor's Office to complete an “Agricultural Verification Form” to confirm the property has current agricultural classification.

The Assessor's Office sends certified mail for three main reasons:

• Information requests or parcel split notices - these notify the property owner that action must be taken to keep their agricultural classification. Both the deficiency and the remedy will be listed in the letter. Failure to respond will result in a loss of agricultural classification.
• Agricultural Classification Removal or Denial - these are sent when a property's use changes or has been out of production and no longer qualifies for agricultural classification. These letters are intended to notify, no action is needed.
• Canvass letters - sent to the agricultural producers rather than the property owners to verify farm operations, ensure statutory compliance, and understand how and where the operator is utilizing property in Maricopa County. Failure to respond to these letters will result in the removal of the operator’s approved status and all related property will be removed from agricultural classification.

Yes, any time there is a significant change you must submit an updated application. Significant changes can be:

• Deed transfer to a new owner or a new legal entity.
• Split or combine that alters the legal description of the property.
• An expired or altered lease.
• A change in use.
• A change in operator.

Additionally, the Assessor’s Office is required by state law to make an on-site inspection and appraise all properties with an agricultural classification within every four years. As a part of that process, the operator may be asked to provide operational information that enables the Assessor to verify the property is statutorily compliant. These requests must be responded to for agricultural classification to be retained.

The Assessor has a statutory duty to ensure all property within the county is properly valued based on its use. Agricultural Classification has very specific requirements, so the Assessor is granted the authority to gather information to determine if the criteria is being met. Failure to respond will result in the denial or removal of Agricultural Classification.

According to state law, if the property owner or their agent intentionally provides false information on an application form, or fails to provide a notice of change in use:

1. The property shall be reclassified and valued as non-agricultural.
2. The owner is liable for any additional taxes due to the change to non-agricultural value and for all the tax years in which the property was classified based on the false information.
3. The owner shall also pay a penalty on the additional taxes owed, with the money being deposited between the state and the county treasurer.

The Assessor must receive agricultural documentation and applications by May 15 to be considered for the current valuation year. Those received after May 15 will be reviewed and processed for the next available tax year. The Assessor cannot change your current year's classification once the tax bill is issued.

If you believe your property should be classified as agricultural but you received a Notice of Value stating otherwise, you should file an appeal.

You may file an administrative appeal with the Assessor's Office for free or you may file a tax court appeal. If you file an administrative appeal and aren't satisfied with the Assessor’s decision, you can further appeal to the State Board of Equalization and/or to tax court.

If you believe your property has been misclassified, it is important to file a timely appeal so that it might be corrected. The Assessor is unable to correct the classification after the appeal period has ended.

If the use of your property changes, you should contact the Assessor’s Agricultural Team at [email protected] or 602-506-3406 within 60 days of change. If a property owner or their agent intentionally provides false information to the Assessor, on an application form, or fails to provide notice of change in use, the property shall be reclassified and valued as non-agricultural.

If you are an out-of-state producer and have purchased an existing operation, you will need to submit an Agricultural Land Use Application and relevant information about your operation. The operation must currently be in production to qualify.

If you are starting a new business in the state, the operation must be in production for three years. After that time, you can submit an Agricultural Land Use Application and relevant information about your operation to qualify.

Your property may be classified as agricultural in part. Only land and improvements dedicated to agriculture qualify for agricultural classification. Examples are:

• Your personal residence (home) is on the property; the house and an acre of the property are dedicated as residential use and do not qualify for agricultural classification.
• You have a 10-acre parcel of which 5 acres are dedicated to agricultural production, the remaining 5 acres are considered vacant land.
• You have a citrus grove with a boxing facility and a processing facility on site. The grove and the boxing facility will qualify as agricultural while the processing facility will be classified as commercial.
• You have an equine boarding facility, a hay barn, hot walker, an arena for training and exercise, an arena with seating and shoots for roping events, RV hook ups for trailers, and a small home for the trainer that lives on site. The boarding facility, hay barn, exercise/training arena, and house for the trainer will be considered agricultural. RV hook ups, at a ratio of 2 hook ups per every 10 boarded animals, can be considered agricultural uses as well. The remainder of the property would be considered commercial because rodeo and camping activities are not qualifying agricultural uses.

Agritourism is defined as any activity that allows members of the public to view, enjoy, or participate in rural activities such as farming, ranching, harvest-your-own produce, or natural activities and attractions occurring on agricultural property. The activity must be in connection with and directly related to a business whose primary income is derived from producing livestock or agricultural commodities for commercial purposes.

The primary idea here is that the agritourism must be subservient to an agricultural operation. Property may be granted agricultural classification based on an agritourist use, however, an operation cannot be qualified based on the same use.

Qualifying equine activities are land and improvements devoted to commercial breeding, raising, boarding, or training equine, or equine rescue facilities registered with the Arizona Department of Agriculture.

Equine activities that do not qualify for agricultural classification are:

• Veterinary Services
• Equine Therapy Services
• Rodeo activities
• Transient boarding such as would be associated with veterinary services or therapy services
• Training of animals that are not intended for sale
• Resue operations not certified by the Department of Agriculture
• Trail Riding
• Horsemanship training
• Any other activity not specifically called out in statute as being agricultural activity

The Arizona Department of Revenue recognizes two types of grazing lands:

• Range land - natural uncultivated land upon which natural vegetation and in some cases introduced vegetation provides forage for grazing.
• Pastureland - irrigated cultivated land that is intentionally seeded to provide forage.

In either case, if the land cannot support the required number of animal units without supplemental feed, it is not grazing land. Such land may be considered high-density if it meets the criteria of high-yield use in a small area.