by 
FLORENCE – Your Pinal County property tax bill is in the mail, and with it-some major changes.
“We have made some changes to show property owners more about their taxes,” stated Treasurer Dodie Doolittle. “Through Proposition 117, the limited property value of an assessed property cannot increase more than five percent from the previous year. The property owners will see both the limited property value and the full cash value of their property on the bill. However, primary and secondary taxes are calculated on the limited value only.”
Doolittle pointed out that the bills will display gross taxes on a property. That number will reflect actual taxes before state aid or the one percent limit reductions are applied.
“This way the taxpayers will see the actual amount of taxes being assessed, not just the net result,” Treasurer Doolittle said. “The top of the tax bill will show the reduction amount and the total taxes due. This change allows the owner to see a true representation of their assessed taxes. Owners who have their taxes paid by a mortgage company will receive a postcard with the same information.”
Looking over a new tax bill, property owners will notice the prior year authority levy distribution is larger than what the 2014 statement said. That is because this year’s tax bills will reflect what the true gross value of 2014 property taxes were for property owners.
“Some might think they owe extra taxes, but that isn’t the case,” Doolittle said. “It’s just showing a comparison to this year’s gross tax amount.”
Doolittle also pointed out that one of the lines in the tax bill will highlight the State of Arizona cost shifts and the true price property owners pay for those shifts. This is a breakdown of the Pinal County tax rate requested by the Pinal County Board of Supervisors.
The Treasurer’s Office continues to work to keep the cost of mailing out tax bills to a minimum. This year’s bills will have information explaining how taxpayers can sign up to receive their tax bills or postcards electronically by signing up for email notification. Instead of bills being sent to the post office, the taxpayer would receive an email that their tax bill is ready to view or download from the web.
“The tax notices would be available anywhere in the world if they have internet access,” the Treasurer said. “There is also a pay button option when viewing the notice that will direct the taxpayer back to our webpage. They can review all payment options and select what works best for them. We will have a link for online pay through credit card or E-check which is processed by a third party vendor.”
If a property owner signs up for the online service and there is an email bounce back, a hard copy of the tax bill would be sent to their mailing address to ensure proper delivery of the tax bill information.
“Last year’s mailing cost taxpayers an average of 43 cents each. Through online billing, to process each parcel costs only 12 cents. That’s quite a savings,” Doolittle said.
There are news or informational items frequently written by staff or submitted to the Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner, Superior Sun, Pinal Nugget or Oracle Towne Crier for inclusion in our print or digital products. These items are not credited with an author.
by by