Arizona Petition for Review

An Arizona appeal starts with a petition for review filed with the county assessor — not with a board, and not with the tax collector. It has a filing window of sixty days, a required content that catches people out, and two routes after the assessor decides.

What you are appealing, and what you are not

The petition challenges the full cash value and/or the legal classification of the property. The statute is framed for an owner who believes the property "has been valued too high or otherwise improperly valued or listed on the roll".

What the petition does not do is challenge the limited property value as a number in its own right: the limited value is a formula (§ 42-13301), and it is not subject to discretionary adjustment. When a limited value has been re-established above 5%, what you are really testing is whether the trigger for that — new construction, a change in use, a split — actually applied. That is a fact question, and it belongs in the petition.

The filing window

The petition must be filed within sixty days after the date the assessor mailed the notice of valuation, or the amended notice of valuation if one was issued. A United States Postal Service postmark is evidence of the filing date, so a mailed petition that is postmarked inside the window is filed on time.

The deadline is printed on the notice. Because the assessor must certify the mailing date each year, and because a late amended notice restarts the window, the printed date on the notice in your hand is the operative one.

What the petition must contain

This is the requirement that separates a petition that can succeed from one that cannot. It is not enough to say the value is too high. The statute requires the petition to state:

1. your opinion of the full cash value — a number, not a complaint; and
2. substantial information that justifies that opinion, given by stating the method or methods of valuation on which the opinion is based:
   • market approach — including the full cash value of at least one comparable property in the same geographic area, or the sale of the subject property;
   • income approach — with the additional information § 42-16052 requires;
   • cost approach — the cost to build or rebuild the property plus the land value.

In practice, for a residence, that means naming at least one comparable property in the same geographic area with its full cash value. A letter saying the value rose too much does not meet the standard, and the Board of Equalization will not accept letters in place of the required forms.

The forms

• DOR 82130R — residential petition for review of valuation. Class three property has its own form with simplified instructions.
• DOR 82130 — real property (commercial, multi-family, industrial, retail and similar).
• DOR 82530 — personal property, including mobile and manufactured housing and business personal property.
• DOR 82131 — multiple parcels, where the parcels form the same economic unit or share owner, use, appeal basis and geographic area.
• DOR 82130AA — agency authorization, required if someone represents you.

The forms are prescribed by the state and filed with the county assessor of the county where the property is located.

What happens after you file

1. The assessor reviews the petition. You can ask for a meeting, in which case the assessor must consider, decide and answer all requests on or before August 15.
2. If the assessor agrees, that ends it. When the assessor grants the petition, no further appeal is permitted. That is a benefit and a limit worth knowing before you decide what to ask for.
3. If you disagree with the decision, you have two options. File a petition with the county Board of Equalization within 25 days of the date the assessor’s decision was mailed, or bypass the board and go directly to Tax Court within 60 days of that same date.
4. In Maricopa and Pima counties only, the appeal can continue to the State Board of Equalization, and from there to Tax Court within 60 days of the board’s decision.
5. If you never filed with the assessor, there is a direct judicial route: a petition in Tax Court any time after receiving the notice, but no later than December 15 of the valuation year — the same year the notice was mailed. Filing fees apply.

All Arizona tax court appeals are heard at Maricopa Superior Court, whichever county the property is in.

Worked example (illustrative)

Illustrative sequence. Your own mailing dates and deadlines come from your notice.

1. February: the notice shows a full cash value of $400,000 and a limited value of $315,000, class three.
2. March: you file DOR 82130R with the assessor, stating your opinion of the full cash value at $360,000 and naming two comparable properties in the same area with their full cash values.
3. May: the assessor’s office reviews the records with you and adjusts a recorded improvement — for example, a measurement that was overstated. If the assessor grants the petition in full, the matter closes here.
4. June: the decision is mailed. If you disagree with it, the county Board of Equalization clock is 25 days from that mailing, and the Tax Court clock is 60 days.

What this tells you: the earliest, cheapest and most decisive stage is the petition to the assessor, and its power comes from documentation rather than from argument.

What it does not tell you: what the outcome will be, or whether a corrected full cash value will even change your tax base — the tax is levied on the limited value, so a full cash value that stays above it does not by itself move the bill.

Where to go next

• Evidence for an Arizona appeal — what each method requires, and the valuation date that limits your comparables.
• Full cash value vs limited property value — why the limited value moved, which is often the real question.
• Arizona deadlines — every window including the December 15 court route.