Why are Yavapai County real estate taxes so high??? (Prescott: for sale, assessor)

[ncguy444]

Just got my bill this year and the taxes look like they went up about 10% even though the property valuation dropped 25%. I own raw undeveloped land all over the county and find Arizona one of the worst states for property taxes. When you consider lack of services, utilities. lack of water. remoteness, rough roads, and also having all the neighbors free ranging cattle tearing up your land they seem mighty high to me. All I wanted with this property was to leave it undeveloped and to provide some habitat for the wild critters in the area. I am ready to just sell the property and say goodbye to evil tax man.

[BriansPerspective]

I have to agree with you regarding vacant land. I cannot understand why taxes on vacant land are so high. Taxes on a typical home in our subdivision are about $1,200/yr. Taxes on a vacant lot in our subdivision are about $600/yr This makes no sense. Maybe the tax code is aimed at encouraging development of vacant land.

This year, our home taxes actually dropped 15%, but our office taxes increased by 7%. Our home is taxed at 0.94% of assessed value and our office is taxed at 2.2% of assessed value. Vacant land is taxed at 1.7% of assessed value. There are a lot of commercial property owners who are incensed by the commercial tax rate. That's why you see some of the 'Prop 13' signs around town - in defference to the California proposition that restricted property tax to 1% of value.

The rates for the differing types of land are calculated with a multiplier. If you consider a regular single-family house to be the base rate, then vacant land is taxed at 1.6 times that rate and commercial property is taxed at 2 times that rate. So per assessed value, vacant land owners pay 60% more tax and commercial land owners pay 100% more tax than single-family homeowners.

[ncguy444]

Originally Posted by BriansPerspective

I have to agree with you regarding vacant land. I cannot understand why taxes on vacant land are so high. Taxes on a typical home in our subdivision are about $1,200/yr. Taxes on a vacant lot in our subdivision are about $600/yr This makes no sense. Maybe the tax code is aimed at encouraging development of vacant land.

This year, our home taxes actually dropped 15%, but our office taxes increased by 7%. Our home is taxed at 0.94% of assessed value and our office is taxed at 2.2% of assessed value. Vacant land is taxed at 1.7% of assessed value. There are a lot of commercial property owners who are incensed by the commercial tax rate. That's why you see some of the 'Prop 13' signs around town - in defference to the California proposition that restricted property tax to 1% of value.

The rates for the differing types of land are calculated with a multiplier. If you consider a regular single-family house to be the base rate, then vacant land is taxed at 1.6 times that rate and commercial property is taxed at 2 times that rate. So per assessed value, vacant land owners pay 60% more tax and commercial land owners pay 100% more tax than single-family homeowners.

Thank you for the reply. Do you think they get away with this due to most of the vacant land owners being out of state?? Seems that the Yavapai community college got the biggest percentage jump in the rates. There really is no reason for taxes like this and I can not justify paying what I pay for what I own. I am willing to bet at least 35% of all the vacant rural ranches/lots are for sale at any given time. The property is getting cheaper by the day and the county takes more and more. Shame on Yavapai county....

[Burning Madolf]

One of the worst states for property taxes? Not by a loooooooong stretch.
Maybe they do it to stick it to out of state speculators, who hope to sit on land hoping for a big pay day down the road.

[BriansPerspective]

Originally Posted by ncguy444

Thank you for the reply. Do you think they get away with this due to most of the vacant land owners being out of state?? Seems that the Yavapai community college got the biggest percentage jump in the rates. There really is no reason for taxes like this and I can not justify paying what I pay for what I own. I am willing to bet at least 35% of all the vacant rural ranches/lots are for sale at any given time. The property is getting cheaper by the day and the county takes more and more. Shame on Yavapai county....

I think you're stuck between a rock and a hard place. Vacant land is (excuse the expression) dirt cheap these days. For one thing, it is generally cheaper to buy a house than to build one. The second thing is the property tax. If you can't build and if land values are not increasing, then why buy a piece of land to sit on and pay taxes?

Yavapai Community College jacked their taxes to offset a reduction in State funding. I do not know if they have a restriction as to the percentage that they are allowed to increase. Yavapai County on the other hand dropped their tax rate, which is why our personal residence taxes decreased overall.

[Gandalara]

Originally Posted by BriansPerspective

Yavapai Community College jacked their taxes to offset a reduction in State funding. I do not know if they have a restriction as to the percentage that they are allowed to increase.

Arizaona's Community Colleges are allowed to change the county property tax rate so they get more? Without a vote? Or am I misunderstanding? Hoooo-boy.

CA's Community Colleges are told what to expect, with no say so. Unless they convince the voters a bond is needed, then the bond payback is added to the property tax.

[DellNec]

Originally Posted by ncguy444

Just got my bill this year and the taxes look like they went up about 10% even though the property valuation dropped 25%. I own raw undeveloped land all over the county and find Arizona one of the worst states for property taxes. When you consider lack of services, utilities. lack of water. remoteness, rough roads, and also having all the neighbors free ranging cattle tearing up your land they seem mighty high to me. All I wanted with this property was to leave it undeveloped and to provide some habitat for the wild critters in the area. I am ready to just sell the property and say goodbye to evil tax man.

If you think Yavapai County taxes are high, then you have not seen the rest of AZ and the USA for that matter. YC tax is LOW, as a matter of fact, it is the lowest I have seen in anyplace I have ever lived.

[ncguy444]

Originally Posted by DellNec

If you think Yavapai County taxes are high, then you have not seen the rest of AZ and the USA for that matter. YC tax is LOW, as a matter of fact, it is the lowest I have seen in anyplace I have ever lived.

You must be from california or the east coast then. I own 42 acres in North Carolina with electricity, county water, and paved road frontage. I pay $139 a year and have income producing timber on it. Have 16 cares in South Carolina with 1/3 mile road frontage, electric, 2 ponds, close to several towns and pay $42.00 a year. I also own several parcels in Texas and their taxes are less than Arizona plus Texas does not have a state income tax. The one parcel I have that is comparable to the Arizona parcel in question is 40 acres I have in Utah about 35 miles from Salt Lake City. The tax rate is less than half of what I pay for 28 acres in Arizona. Like I said before I will just sell because I refuse to let the evil tax man bend me over... OUT

[ncguy444]

Another issue I have "I even called the county last year inquiring about it" is there is no type of agricultural exemption I can get on my property unless I am the one there doing agriculture related activity. I have a tank on my property and one of my neighbors even has a corral next to it for his critters but I pay the full tax rate for vacant land.

[BriansPerspective]

Originally Posted by ncguy444

You must be from california or the east coast then. I own 42 acres in North Carolina with electricity, county water, and paved road frontage. I pay $139 a year and have income producing timber on it. Have 16 cares in South Carolina with 1/3 mile road frontage, electric, 2 ponds, close to several towns and pay $42.00 a year. I also own several parcels in Texas and their taxes are less than Arizona plus Texas does not have a state income tax. The one parcel I have that is comparable to the Arizona parcel in question is 40 acres I have in Utah about 35 miles from Salt Lake City. The tax rate is less than half of what I pay for 28 acres in Arizona. Like I said before I will just sell because I refuse to let the evil tax man bend me over... OUT

I think Dell was referring to improved land, not vacant land. Go put a house on your acreage in NC and SC and then compare the taxes to AZ.

The only cheap vacant land in AZ is Agricultural Land, which is a pittance. For example, there is a 52 acre parcel of land in Prescott Valley next to a busy highway, smack in the middle of town and zoned commercial. The land is classified as Agricultural Land, because it was historically classified that way prior to the development of Prescott Valley. The 2011 taxes for that parcel, which is probably worth about $15M, are $7 The county assessor threatened to reclassify that parcel and other similar parcels. The land owner periodically moves some cows onto the parcel to graze, thereby keeping the land Agricultural.

In contrast, WalMart bought an 18 acre piece of vacant land to build a new store. That vacant parcel, which is virtually no different than the parcel above, was taxed $70,000 in 2011. I think if Walmart were smart, they could have bought a few cows and left them on the vacant parcel until they were ready to build