By Stephen Matter | Chamber Business News
A bill to decrease Arizona’s commercial property tax assessment ratio to 15% over the next five years would achieve a goal set decades ago by the Citizen’s Finance Review Commission and others if it becomes law.
Senate Bill 1093, sponsored by state Sen. J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, would continue the scheduled assessment ratio decrease under last year’s SB 1108, which called for a gradual reduction from 18% to 16%, but lower it an additional percentage point by 2027.
Property taxes in Arizona are not based on what a property would sell for on the open market, but rather the property’s assessed value, which is determined by applying the assigned assessment ratio to the limited property value. There are eight property classes, each assigned an assessment ratio. For example, the assessment ratio on residential property is 10%, while agricultural or other properties, which are in Class 2, have an assessment ratio of 15%.
