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Prescription Discount Card Distribution

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MEDIA ADVISORY

Property Valuation Notices to Include Discount Prescription Cards for Families & Pets

Maricopa County residents will receive a little something extra with their property valuation notices this year. Prescription discount cards will be enclosed in the mailings to be sent beginning mid February.

The discount card is free and easy to use. There is no enrollment form, no membership fee and no restrictions or limits on frequency of use. The cards may be used by all county residents, regardless of age, or income, and are accepted at over 90% of pharmacies in Maricopa County.

"Although the card does not provide discounts on prescriptions covered by insurance, it can provide substantial savings for the uninsured and underinsured residents of our county," said Maricopa County Supervisor's chairman Andy Kunasek, "and even those fortunate to have prescription coverage can use the card to save money on drugs that are not covered by their health plan. The discount card can also result in significant cost savings for certain pet medications," he said. "Many pharmacies will fill prescriptions from a veterinarian if the pet medication has a human equivalent."

Sponsored by the National Association of Counties (NACo), the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors launched the discount card program, in April 2006 to help consumers cope with the high price of prescription drugs. "This program is less than one year old and already Maricopa County residents have saved nearly $1 million on prescriptions," said Supervisor Don Stapley, County Board Member and First Vice President of NACo.

County resident Mercy Ortega is an example of someone who benefited from the program and sings its praises. "I have always had insurance coverage," Ortega said, "but last year I changed jobs and my new employers had a 30 day waiting period for insurance. Maricopa County's Discount Prescription Drug Program saved me considerable money on prescriptions during that period."

Maricopa County Assessor Keith Russell said he is happy to include a prescription discount card in the Property Valuation Notices that will be sent to all real estate owners within Maricopa County.

The discount card program is administered nationally by CVS Caremark.

CONTACT:
Deanne Poulos, 602-506-7232
Shawn Nau, 602-525-6167

View the press release (PDF).

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County Assessor Russell's 2008 Notice of Change Note

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Dear Property Owner:

Enclosed with this message is your 2008 Notice of Change in Property Valuation. You are receiving this Notice because there has been a change in, or a change to, your property. As you may already be aware, my office sent you a 2008 Notice of Valuation in February of this year, detailing your property's new Full Cash Value (FCV) and Limited Property Value (LPV). This Notice is an update to those valuations, as required by A.R.S. § 42-15105, which allows taxing jurisdictions such as cities, school districts, and the county to more accurately calculate the tax roll for the upcoming year. As most citizens are unfamiliar with this type of property notice, let me be more specific about what it intends to capture: new construction (this is the bulk of it), additions to, deletions from (e.g. improvements to an existing home, or improvements to the property), splits or consolidations of assessment parcels, and changes in property use that occurred between October 1, 2006 through September 30, 2007.

Also included as part of this message are some interesting statistics on the services that my staff provides to the public, as well as an informative pie chart detailing the different types of property in Maricopa County. I am proud of the effort that my staff provides to serve the public, and I am committed to continuing excellent service to every taxpayer in Maricopa County. I would ask that you carefully review the information found on this Notice; if you disagree with our valuation, or feel you have received this notice in error, please contact the Call Center at (602) 506-3406, and a member of my staff will be happy to assist you with your questions or concerns.

Thank you for this opportunity to serve you,

Keith E. Russell, MAI
Maricopa County Assessor

View the 2008 Notice of Change Note (PDF).

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County Assessor Russell's 2008 Personal Property Notice of Value Note

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Dear Personal Property Owner:

Enclosed with this message is your 2007 Notice of Valuation for Personal Property. Please review it carefully in order to ensure that my office has correctly valued your personal property.

Each year we continue to have more businesses use our E-Filing option for personal property. If you have not utilized this option, please let me recommend it to you. E-Filing is a simple and easy procedure to submit your Personal Property data to the Assessor's office. Last year, more than 3,800 individual personal property accounts were filed through our E-Filing system. This process can minimize input errors and reduce costs. For more information on E-Filing, please visit my website at http://maricopa.gov/assessor/PPEFiling.aspx, or call us at 602-506-3386.

Below you will find statistics on where your property tax dollars go and the level of activities within the Assessor's office. Most of the money collected in Maricopa County from property taxes is used for education. Just over 70% of all money collected goes toward School Districts and Community Colleges. As you can see from the statistics, the level of activity in the Assessor's office continues to increase in all areas. I am very proud of all the employees in the Maricopa County Assessor's office and the level of service they provide to the public. It is an honor for me to be associated with such good people and to serve you, the citizens of Maricopa County.

Thank you for this opportunity to serve you,

Keith E. Russell, MAI
Maricopa County Assessor

View the 2008 Personal Property Notice of Value Note (PDF).

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Maricopa County Assessor Opens New Satellite Office In Tempe

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Phoenix --- Maricopa County Assessor Keith Russell announced today that members of his staff who work in the Tempe satellite office have moved to a new location. The new Tempe office is located at 8240 S. Kyrene Road, Suite 113, Tempe AZ 85284.

"We are saving the taxpayers of Maricopa County over $300,000 per year by relocating our Tempe office to the old location of the Kyrene Justice Court. I am pleased that we could assist the County with this move, and that there will be such a large cost savings to the taxpayers of Maricopa County, said Russell.

There are 28 full-time employees of the Maricopa County Assessor's Office who work in the Tempe satellite office. It is the responsibility of the Assessor to locate, identify, and appraise at current market value, locally assessable property subject to ad valorem taxes and to process exemptions specified by law.

View the press release (PDF).

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Maricopa County Assessor Keith Russell Promotes Experienced Appraiser & Area Managers to Lead Property Unit

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The Maricopa County Assessor's Office, which has the responsibility of assessing all property located in Maricopa County, and which recently sent out over 1.4 million property notices for the 2008 tax year, has hired Joe Propati to be the new chief appraiser for the office. "I conducted a thorough, nation-wide search for this position, and realized that the best candidate was one with strong ties to the office," said Maricopa County Assessor Keith Russell. Mr. Russell was elected in 2004 and began serving his first four-year term in January of 2005.

Mr. Propati has been with the Maricopa County Assessor's Office for more than 27 years. He has held numerous management positions within the office, including co-manager of the real property division. He holds an advanced certification as an appraiser from the Arizona Department of Revenue, and has completed training from the IAAO, a nationally recognized organization dedicated to training property appraisers. "I very much look forward to the challenges that lie ahead," said Propati, who added that "it will be an awesome responsibility, but one that is made easier by the quality and dedication of the staff in the Maricopa County Assessor's Office."

As Chief Appraiser of the Maricopa County Assessor's Office, Mr. Propati will be responsible for the capture and valuation of all locally assessed property in Maricopa County.

Shortly after his promotion, Mr. Propati announced new area managers to provide enhanced services to citizens, businesses and local jurisdictions throughout the county. After a thorough interview and candidate consideration process, four individuals with a depth of experience with Maricopa County will serve in new capacities. The new managers are as follows:

Scottsdale	Area Manager: Bill Heath
Tempe	Area Manager: Tim Holland
Mesa	area Manager: Cathe Cuneo
Glendale/Avondale	Area Manager: Armando Chavez

Maricopa County Assessor Keith Russell congratulated the new managers and praised Mr. Propati on the selection for his new management team.

View the press release (PDF).

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Legislative Changes - Commercial

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Changes in commercial property assessment ratios

The Arizona Legislature recently enacted HB2784, which, among other things, accelerates the reduction in the assessment ratio for Class 1 (commercial) and Class 6 (free enterprise zones) that was originally passed in 2006. In February of this year, my office sent out the 2008 Notice of Valuation for all property owners in Maricopa County. In all notices to commercial property owners, the assessment ratio for the 2008 property valuations was listed at 23.5 percent. As a result of the Legislature's action, the new assessment ratio for 2008 is 23 percent. While no new notices will be sent out to the public, I have instructed my staff to reflect this recent legislative change on the Assessor's website. If commercial property owners would like further information, please do not hesitate to call my office at 602-506-3877, and a member of my staff will be happy to assist you with your questions.

View the memorandum (PDF).

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2008 Property Valuation - Press Release

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Maricopa County Assessor releases Tax Year 2008 Property Valuation Notices

Phoenix --- Maricopa County Assessor Keith E. Russell, will be mailing the 2008 Notice of Values on February 9, 2007. The mailing will be to approximately 1.4 million entities which own properties in the County.

The 2008 Notice of Value is the County's official declaration of Full Cash Value and Limited Property Value Assessments. These assessments will be utilized in the calculations of 2008 property tax bill. By state statute this notice must be mailed before March 1st of the year prior to the tax year. The notice includes values for both 2007 and 2008, which allow all property owners to easily recognize any increase or decrease in assessed value from the previous year.

The median value of single family residences has increased from the 2007 Notice to the 2008 Notice. However, this increase is considerably less than the increase from the 2006 Notice to the 2007 Notice for single family residences. The 2007 Notice showed the median home value increase of 51.78 percent from 2006 (single family and condominium). The increase in the median assessed value on the 2008 Notice is 10.96 percent (single family only). Please note that this increase is in the median home value not the average home value. Median home value reflects the point at which 50 percent of the homes are below this value and 50 percent of the homes are above this value. Since most of the new home inventory which has been added in the last few years is well above the previous years median value the increase reflects the addition of new homes in the market place as well as increases in value to the existing home inventory.

Mr. Russell reminds all property owners, that for the 2008 Notice, all changes in their assessment reflect changes in market conditions between the start of the third quarter of 2005 to the end of the second quarter of 2006. This schedule is observed in all 15 counties in Arizona. Much of the increase in the single family market came during the third quarter of 2005.

The Assessors Office recognizes that in a number of submarkets the single family residential market has continued to weaken since the end of the second quarter of 2006. All property owners should review their Full Cash Value and ask themselves the following question; "Can I sell my property for this amount or more?" If the answer is "No" then they should consider filing an appeal. Information on the appeal process is contained on the notice. It should be noted that the Full Cash Value is intended to reflect a value slightly below market value.

Attached is a schedule which details the changes in different property types as well as a breakdown of change for the single family market by city and zip code.

Also included in this year's notice is a message from Keith E. Russell, the Maricopa County Assessor (copy attached), to all property owners and a Prescription Drug Card provided by the National Association of Counties (NACo). This Prescription Drug Card may be used throughout the United States by those who are uninsured, underinsured or whose insurance does not cover a particular prescription drug. The card is being promoted by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to help consumers cope with the high price of prescription drugs. The card can offer a substantial savings off the retail price of commonly prescribed drugs. Residents do not have to be Medicare beneficiaries to be eligible for this program.

County residents can call toll free 1-877-321-2652 or visit https://naco.advancerx.com for assistance with the program. Using the NACo prescription discount card is easy. Simply present it at a participating pharmacy. There is no enrollment form, no membership fee and no restrictions or limits on frequency of use. Cardholders and their family members may use the card any time their prescriptions are not covered by insurance.

2008 Single Family Residential by City (PDF)

2008 Single Family Residential by Zip (PDF)

Prescription Drug Card (TIF)

County Assessor Russell's 2008 Notice of Value Note (PDF)

View the 2008 Property Valuation press release (PDF).

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New Market Overview Feature

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Residential Market Overview Function

Recently, a new feature was added to our web site; the Market Overview for residential properties. By entering a parcel number in the Parcel Search fields and using the Market Overview link, a summary of sales activity used in the residential model, will be displayed for residential parcels. The unit in question will generally be the Maricopa County Recorders Number (MCR) and Subdivision Name. Included in the summary are the building class, the total number of parcels in the unit, the total number of sales in the unit for 2005 and 2006, the range of sales price and the average sales price. Below the market overview is a complete list of all the parcels that were sold in 2005 and 2006 for this unit. The parcel number is a link to a more detailed description of the parcel.

View the press release (PDF).