AssessCheck

Arizona Property Tax Deadlines

Arizona dates are unusually event-driven. The petition window does not run from a fixed calendar day: it runs from the date the assessor certified the mailing of your notice, and it can start again if an amended notice is issued. The two payment halves, by contrast, are fixed dates with fixed consequences.

The valuation date — January 1, for the following tax year

January 1 is the valuation date, and it values the FOLLOWING tax year: the valuation set as of January 1 of one year appears on the tax bill for the next year. The assessor values using sales data up to the valuation date (in practice a sales study spanning roughly the prior 18 months), so market changes after January 1 are not evidence about a valuation set as of that date.

Anchor: January 1 of the valuation year, one year before the tax year it feeds · Basis: rule tied to an event

Receiving the notice of valuation

The county assessor notifies each owner of record, on any date BEFORE MARCH 1, of the property's full cash value and limited property value to be used for assessment purposes. On the same date each year the assessor certifies the mailing date to the board of supervisors and the department — that certified date is what the petition window runs from. The director may extend the mailing date beyond March 1 by not more than 30 days for an act of God, flood, fire or declared emergency, and the extension applies to all property valued by the assessor.

Stated date: Before March 1 (extendable by up to 30 days by the director for a declared emergency) · Basis: fixed date

Filing the petition for review with the assessor

A petition for review must be filed with the county assessor within 60 days after the date the assessor mailed the notice of valuation — or the amended notice of valuation, if one is issued. The deadline is printed on the notice, and a United States Postal Service postmark is evidence of the filing date. The petition is filed with the assessor, not with a board, and the form is prescribed by the department.

Anchor: the certified mailing date of the notice of valuation, or of an amended notice issued within 60 days of that mailing · Basis: rule tied to an event

Amended notices

Within 60 days after the mailing of the notice of valuation, the assessor may AMEND the notice if property characteristic data applied to a neighborhood or classification grouping produced an incorrect opinion of value; amended notices are typically sent in late September. An amended notice restarts the 60-day petition window, which is why an owner who has already filed should check whether a later notice was issued.

Anchor: the mailing date of the original notice of valuation · Basis: rule tied to an event

The assessor's decision

If the petition asks for a meeting with the assessor's office, the assessor must consider, decide and answer all requests on or before August 15. If the assessor grants the petition, no further appeal is permitted — the matter ends there, and there is nothing left to appeal.

Anchor: the assessor's receipt and review of the petition · Basis: rule tied to an event

Appealing to the Board of Equalization

If the petitioner does not agree with the assessor's decision, a petition may be filed with the Board of Equalization for that county within 25 days of the date the assessor's decision was mailed. The petitioner may instead bypass the county board and appeal directly to Tax Court within 60 days of that same date. In Maricopa and Pima counties the appeal may continue to the State Board of Equalization.

Anchor: the mailing date of the county assessor's decision · Basis: rule tied to an event

Tax Court, including the December 15 route

An appeal to the Tax Court must be filed within 60 days after the Board of Equalization's decision was mailed. There is also a direct judicial route: an owner who did NOT file a petition with the county assessor may file a petition in Tax Court at any time after receiving the notice of value, but no later than December 15 of the valuation year — the same year the notice of valuation was mailed. All Arizona tax court appeals are heard at Maricopa Superior Court, and the owner is responsible for filing fees.

Anchor: the mailing date of the board's decision, or December 15 of the valuation year when no administrative appeal was filed · Basis: rule tied to an event

Paying the taxes in two halves

Tax statements are mailed in September. The first half is due October 1 and becomes delinquent November 1 at 5 p.m.; the second half is due March 1 and becomes delinquent May 1 at 5 p.m. A full-year payment made by December 31 waives interest on any unpaid first-half balance, and when the total annual tax is $100 or less the entire amount is due December 31. Unpaid balances bear statutory interest of 16% per year (1.333% per month), and if a delinquency date falls on a weekend or legal holiday the tax becomes delinquent at 5 p.m. the next business day. (Published by the Pima County Treasurer; other counties publish the same statutory dates with their own payment options.)

Stated date: October 1 / November 1 (delinquent) · March 1 / May 1 (delinquent) · Basis: fixed date

The senior property valuation protection option

A resident aged 65 or older may apply to the county assessor for a property valuation protection option on the primary residence, including not more than ten acres of undeveloped appurtenant land, on or before September 1; the assessor notifies the resident whether the application is accepted or denied on or before December 1. An application filed after September 1 is processed for the following year. Eligibility requires two years of residence in the primary residence, and income is limited by reference to the federal supplemental security income benefit rate (400% of that rate for one owner, 500% where the property is owned by two or more persons) — a limit the assessor reviews every three years on the owner's average income over the previous three years. If approved, the value remains fixed at the limited value in effect in the year the option was filed, the owner must reapply every three years, and if title is conveyed to a person who does not qualify the option terminates and the property reverts to its current full cash value.

Stated date: September 1 (application) / December 1 (acceptance or denial) · Basis: fixed date

When the tax rates are set

Tax rates are not set by the assessor. The county board of supervisors sets the rates for the taxing jurisdictions that apply to the property on the third Monday in August, and those rates are applied to the property's net assessed limited value from the previous year. This is why appealing a value and disputing a tax bill are two different things: the value is fixed before the rates exist.

Anchor: the third Monday in August of the tax year · Basis: rule tied to an event

Worked example (illustrative)

Illustrative dates only. The dates that control are the ones printed on your notice and published by your county.

  1. January 1: the valuation date. It sets the value for the following tax year, from sales up to that date.
  2. Before March 1: the notice of valuation arrives, with the full cash value, the limited property value and the class.
  3. Within 60 days of that mailing: the last day to file a petition for review with the assessor. The date is printed on the notice.
  4. August 15: if you requested a meeting, the outside date for the assessor to consider, decide and answer your requests.
  5. Third Monday in August: the board of supervisors sets the tax rates, which are applied to the net assessed limited value.
  6. Late September: possible amended notice — if one arrives, the 60-day petition window runs again from its mailing.
  7. October 1 and March 1: the two payment halves, with delinquency on November 1 and May 1 respectively.

What this tells you: the only deadlines you must look up locally are the mailing date on your own notice and your county’s payment options; everything else in the appeal is a rule tied to a mailing or a decision.

What it does not tell you: hearing dates, county practice on meetings with the assessor, or the interest and fee amounts a later stage may involve. Those come from the county.

Where the process fits

Sources