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HB2064 Signed into Law, Amending Personal Exemptions Program

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MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. (April 20, 2023) - Governor Katie Hobbs has signed House Bill 2064 into law, amending the state law on personal property tax exemptions. HB2064 expands the definition of a “competent medical authority” that can attest to an individual’s disability status.

With the passage of HB2064, registered nurse practitioners and physician assistants can sign the Arizona Department of Revenue Certificate of Disability (DOR82514B), certifying that an individual is totally and permanently disabled. Additionally, a disabled veteran may now provide a disability award letter from the Department of Veteran’s Affairs showing the percentage of disability. There are still income and property valuation limitations and residency requirements that must be met in order to qualify.

“I was a big proponent for Proposition 130 which reinstated disabled veterans to the state’s personal exemptions program and feel this is a much-needed extension of that,” said Maricopa County Assessor Eddie Cook. “Our team is dedicated to making sure every eligible candidate has adequate access to these valuation relief programs.”

Prior to HB2064, a physician or psychiatrist were the only authorities authorized to complete the disability affidavit for a property tax exemption. However, a recent FAIR Health Analysis shows that between 2016 and 2022, nearly 30% of Arizona patients receiving medical services did not see a primary care physician. Additionally, between 2016 and 2022, Arizona was the third highest state where primary care patients received care from a nurse practitioner instead of a physician.

HB 2064 will go into effect 90 days after the current legislative session adjourns. Click here for more information on the personal exemptions program.

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2024 Notices of Value mailed

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MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. (Feb. 24, 2023) - Maricopa County property owners will begin receiving their 2024 Notices of Value this week. In total, the Maricopa County Assessor’s Office is sending 1,626,124 notices on Feb. 24, roughly 26 thousand more than last year. These notices provide property owners with important information about the assessed value of their property.

Median values for all properties rose for the 2024 tax year, with manufactured housing seeing the largest increase of 28.5%. Single-family residential home values increased for the 11th consecutive year but at about half the rate of tax year 2023.

“Our team assesses every parcel and property with our core values of fairness, equity, transparency, and efficiency,” said Maricopa County Assessor Eddie Cook. “We serve the nation’s fourth largest and often fastest growing county but make it a daily priority to provide best-in-class service. This is especially apparent in my Office’s commitment to innovate and embrace new technology.”

In the last year, the Maricopa County Assessor’s Office has launched a new mass appraisal system and online customer portal. Property owners can now register rental properties, apply for personal exemptions, and file appeals with this online resource.

Property owners have sixty days from the mailing date printed on their notice to file an administrative appeal with the Assessor’s Office. So, for all notices mailed Feb. 24, property owners have a deadline of April 25 to file an appeal if they believe their property has been improperly valued or classified.

Our office also offers the option to receive your Notice of Value by email. This voluntary eNotices service is easy to use, convenient, provides archives, and saves the County money by reducing printing and postage. Please click here to learn how to sign up.

	FCV 2023	FCV 2024	FCV % Change	LPV 2023	LPV 2024	LPV % Change
Vacant Land	56,200	68,500	21.9%	18,790	19,404	3.3%
Single Family Residential	352,700	418,300	18.6%	197,099	206,954	5%
Condominium	225,100	285,100	26.7%	108,360	113,779	5%
Apartments	489,200	623,600	27.5%	133,296	139,961	5%
Commercial	794,300	972,000	22.4%	494,874	519,489	5%
Manufactured Housing	92,900	119,347	28.5%	68,096	71,483	5%

The Maricopa County Assessor's Office has nearly 300 employees, about half of whom are appraisers. Each year, the Maricopa County Assessor’s Office values over 1.8 million real and personal property parcels and accounts with a full cash value of over $1 trillion. The property values determined by the office serve as the foundation for fairly allocating more than $650 million in property tax revenue for Maricopa County and its cities, towns, and districts last year.

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Voters Approve Property Tax Exemption Proposition

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Arizona voters have approved Proposition 130, amending the state law on personal exemptions. Our office is currently updating the related forms and processes before the next application period opens.

Among other changes, Proposition 130 has restored personal exemptions for veterans with disabilities regardless of when they became an Arizona resident or if the disability is connected to their military service. A similar change in residency requirements will also apply to qualifying widows and widowers. Please note an individual is only eligible for property valuation exemption under one category as a widow or widower, a person with a total and permanent disability, or a veteran with a disability; and income and property valuation limits still exist.

Proposition 130 also now allows the legislature to set valuation exemption amounts and qualifications for the eligible groups and for property used for trade, business, or agriculture.

It will go into effect once the General Election results are canvassed and certified. In the meantime, our team is reviewing and revising our current property tax exemption information and application to reflect these changes. The updated forms and information will become available by the time the application period for the 2023 tax season opens in January. Per Arizona law, residents have from the first Monday in January until March 1 each calendar year to submit a property tax exemption application.

If you have any questions about property tax exemptions or would like to request a packet to be mailed or emailed to you when it becomes available, please contact our office at PE.SVP@maricopa.gov or by calling 602-506-3406. Qualified applicants can also submit an application online through our Customer Portal. We appreciate your patience as we await the final certification of Proposition 130 into Arizona’s Constitution.

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Maricopa County Assessor’s Office Launches New Technology System

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Our office has launched a new technology system to manage the 1.8 million real estate assessments processed by our team each year.

The new system is called AA-GAMA — Assessment Analyst-Geographic Assisted Mass Appraisal — and is a cloud-based system designed to be more efficient, faster, and easier to use. The AA-GAMA system has increased reporting capabilities, provides easier access to historical information, and is more secure than previous systems.

The new system is more customizable than the previous system and is scalable for future growth as Maricopa County continues to be an attractive destination for homeowners and investors. It is compatible with the office’s current Geographic Information System and makes it easier for both the Assessor’s Office employees and the general public to use.

The previous system was built in 1992 and was last upgraded in 2006. While it served its purpose, by modern standards it had become inefficient, lacked modern security measures, and was inflexible.

The platform switch is a groundbreaking move for the department — Maricopa County is the first county to launch a system with this size and scope and gives the Maricopa County Assessor’s Office an edge over other jurisdictions.

“We are pleased to introduce this important new system to improve service to Maricopa County residents and property owners,” said Maricopa County Assessor Eddie Cook. “Our focus at the Maricopa County Assessor’s Office is to operate one of the most efficient and effective offices in the country, and this is a key step forward in that direction.”

The move is part of a significant long-term strategic plan designed to make the organization as efficient and responsive as possible to county residents. Its strategic plan is centered on defining the Mission, Vision and Core Values of the Assessor's Office with the goal of being a “Best in Class,” Digital First organization focused on Fairness and Equity, Innovation and Efficiency, and a One Team approach.

The Maricopa County Assessor's Office strategic plan may be viewed here.

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Read our Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Report

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Our office prides itself on providing the best service to property owners at the lowest expense to taxpayers. We also do our best to document and communicate our efforts internally and externally. We invite you to learn more about some of our most recent accomplishments in our Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Report, debuting today.

This report highlights how in this past year, we have utilized technology to enhance our business processes, edited our forms for clarity and simplicity, handled the increase of ownership documents received, and continued preparing for our brand-new assessment system.

Please use the link below to read the Annual Report and see how our team prioritizes public service every day.

Read our Annual Report.

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Assessor's Office Rolls Out Long-term Strategic Plan

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PHOENIX (May 13, 2022) - The Maricopa County Assessor’s Office has completed a significant long-term strategic plan designed to make the organization as efficient and responsive as possible to county residents.

The strategic plan centered on defining the Mission, Vision, and Core Values of the Assessor's Office with the goal of being a “Best in Class” organization focused on Fairness and Equity, Innovation and Efficiency, and a One Team approach.

“The goal was to create a unified direction that will enhance our work, improve how we serve, and define how we perform as one team,” said Maricopa County Assessor Eddie Cook. “This plan is a roadmap to serve Maricopa County more efficiently and effectively to provide the best possible customer experience. The plan was the result of a collaborative effort of colleagues across various functions over the course of many months.”

The “Best in Class” model will be achieved through six Core Initiatives:

• Customer Experience: The office will make every effort to ensure that the public has a positive experience with our organization and leave with a better understanding of the assessment and valuation process.
• Digital First: The office introduced its Digital First initiative in 2020 with the goal of delivering an outstanding experience that is more efficient for its constituents and team members. This initiative focuses on providing a more effective, convenient way for the public to engage with the office’s services.
• Process Development and Improvement: The office will continually work to innovate and simplify its processes, and will optimize this approach by implementing the elements of a process development framework. The goal is to reduce errors, costs, and the training time for new team members.
• Proactive Workload Management: The office will implement benchmarks and refine processes and teams to ensure customer needs are met. This proactive approach to management will emphasize the use of technology and tools to predict potential issues before they arise and streamline workflow.
• Culture Development: The plan includes efforts that will empower the office’s team and build upon their expertise to become one of Arizona’s best places to work.
• Team Development and Collaboration: The office will work to build synergy among team members by encouraging cooperation and building trust and understanding through the intentional sharing of knowledge, as well as encouraging the promotion of team members from within.

We have an entire website dedicated to the Strategic Plan which can be viewed here.

The plan was unveiled in a series of meetings that took place over three days at the end of April and is the first strategic plan ever created by the office. The Maricopa County Assessor’s Office has right around 300 employees, about half of whom are appraisers working on land value.

“I would like to thank all of the team members that were involved in shaping this plan,” said Maricopa County Assessor Eddie Cook. “Our office is full of talented people who serve the public with exceptional skill every day, and this strategic plan will help enhance their work and provide even better service to Maricopa County residents.”
Each year, the Maricopa County Assessor’s Office values over 1.8 million real and personal property parcels and accounts. The property values determined by the office serve as the foundation for fairly allocating more than $650 million in property tax revenue for Maricopa County and its cities, towns, and districts last year.

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Notices of Value Issued February 25

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More than 1.6 million Notices of Value will be mailed or sent to Maricopa County property owners via eNotice Friday, Feb. 25. Each year, the Maricopa County Assessor's Office identifies, locates, and values each parcel in the fourth and fastest-growing county in the country.

Property values in Arizona are set a year ahead to allow for an extensive appeal process. Unlike other forms of taxation, property taxes allow residents to appeal their individual values and testify on how much revenue should be raised by tax jurisdictions.

“I’m especially proud of the effort our team has put in this year as we also worked hard to meet our goals laid out in our newly released strategic plan,” said Assessor Eddie Cook. “As they do every year, our team went above and beyond to complete statutory requirements, established innovative workflows, and maintained a healthy, fiscally conservative budget.”

Median property values for single-family residential homes in Maricopa County rose for the tenth consecutive year, and all property types increased for the 2023 tax year. Apartments saw the largest increase of 40% while commercial property increased the least by 17.7%.

Property owners have until April 26 to file an administrative appeal with the Assessor’s Office if they believe their property was improperly valued or misclassified. Last year, our office completed a total of 2,732 appeals. It was also the first year property owners and their representatives could submit an appeal through an online portal. Nearly 1,100 appeals were filed electronically.

“We strive to be a best-in-class organization, and our online appeal process is just one way we are meeting that goal,” said Assessor Cook. “As stated in our strategic plan’s Digital First initiative, we are placing a heavy emphasis on providing a more effective, convenient way for the public to engage with our services. We look forward to bringing more systems and applications online as the year progresses.”

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View Our Strategic Plan!

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It has taken months of hard work to get us to this day as we officially release our plan to innovate and enhance our work, how we serve, and how we perform as one team. This plan is our roadmap to serve Maricopa County more efficiently and effectively to provide the best possible customer experience.

You can read the plan in one of two ways: by PDF or by visiting the innovative website that will be regularly updated to track our progress and success.