By James Hodl | Copper Area.com
Residents of Hayden and Winkelman will likely cringe when they receive their 2014-15 property tax bills in October.
The expected higher rates approved in mid-August by the Gila County Board of Supervisors will double the rate in Hayden to $8.07 per $100 of assessed valuation, while in Winkelman the property tax rate is rising substantially to $5.89 per $100 of assessed valuation. The increases will result from the devaluation of the assessed value of the area’s largest business and employer, ASARCO, which operates copper mines and the large copper smelting operation in Hayden. ASARCO’s value, as verified by the Arizona Department of Revenue, declined more than 75 percent from $13 million in 2013-14 to only $3 million in 2014-15.
