The Assessment Process
The County Assessor is responsible for all processes, which lead to the preparation and certification of the assessment roll in the County and for any cities, towns, school districts, and other special taxing districts within the County.

According to the Arizona Revised Statutes, the Assessor and any deputies must take the following oath when entering office:

"I will well and truly discharge the duties of Assessor in the County of Gila and will, to the best of my knowledge and ability, truly and fully determine the valuation, without favor or partiality, of all taxable property in Gila County at its full cash value."

The Assessor's responsibility to the property owners of the County is to estimate accurate and equitable property values, so that no single owner carries an unfair share of the property tax burden. The Assessor must endeavor to ensure that; no property, which is subject to taxation, escapes assessment; is undervalued or overvalued; and that no property owner receives preferential treatment.

The Assessor does not perform the functions of levying taxes, mailing tax bills, collection of property taxes, or
conducting sales of property to satisfy unpaid taxes. These are functions of other arms of the property tax
system: The County Treasurer, the Sheriff, or the County Board of Equalization.

The Assessor is responsible for discovering, listing, and valuing all taxable property. This includes both real
and personal property. The following ten steps describe the Assessor's functions:

1. Locate and identify all property in the County.
2. List all properties, with a description of quantity, quality, and significant characteristics.
3. Estimate the full cash value of each taxable property.
4. Determine the taxability of each property by legal class and record exemption determinations.
5. Calculate limited property value and the assessed value as defined by statute.
6. Notify property owners of the proposed full cash and limited property valuation.
7. Prepare and certify the assessment roll for the County; prepare abstracts for each taxing authority within the County.
8. Defend values upon appeals by the property owner, the property valuation and valuation methods used.
9. Correct errors as defined by statute and act on review of petitions.
10. Repeat this process annually.

Step One: Locate and Identify
To locate and identify real property within the County, the Assessor needs a detailed and accurate mapping and identification system, which classifies every parcel of land in a jurisdiction. The Department of Revenue Assessment Procedures manual outlines mapping and parceling procedures recommended for use throughout the state. Computer generated mapping systems are becoming more widely used by some counties. Discovery of buildings and other improvements made to real property is generally accomplished by field inspection of the property.

Building permits issued by local governments often provide information about planned improvements and intended use, but on-site visits by the Assessor during and after construction are required to collect current, pertinent data. Conveyances of title, subdivision maps, ownership maps from the State Land Office, and records of the Federal Bureau of Land Management are also important sources of information.

Discovery of personal property is usually a two-step process:
1. The owner files an annual personal property tax return with the Assessor. This return describes the cost, age, and type of taxable personal property acquired or disposed of during the year.
2. The Assessor conducts an office audit of the owner's personal property return, possibly supplemented with an on-site inspection. Because appraisal of personal property involves determination of the situs or physical location of the property, the Assessor may need to make a determination as to which taxing jurisdiction may impose taxes on a piece of property, and to which portion of the year it is subject to taxation.

Step Two: List
Listing or making an inventory of the quantity, quality, and important characteristics of all taxable property. This also involves assigning a unique number in the Assessor's parcel numbering system (a parcel number) and recording essential related information such as ownership.

Step Three: Estimate Value
Assessor's use three basic appraisal approaches to estimating value: the cost approach, the sales comparison approach, and the income approach. Historically, properties have been appraised one at a time, both for assessment purposes and private sector appraisals. However, as valuation technology expands, properties are increasingly being appraised in groups through the application of mass appraisal systems and techniques such as computer assisted construction cost methods and multiple regression analysis.

Step Four: Determine Taxability
Property may be classed as real, personal, or exempt. Separate assessment rolls are maintained for secured and unsecured property. Exempt property is generally listed and valued, as the exemption status may change from year to year. To determine the extent of taxability of each property, the Assessor must review legislation affecting the taxable status of properties and property owners in the County. Legal classes of use must also be determined. The classification will determine whether the property is valued by the Assessor or by the Centrally Valued Division of the Department of Revenue.

Step Five: Calculate Limited Property Value
This process involves applying statutory formulas to the Full Cash Value (FCV) to arrive at Lmited Property Value (LPV) and applying the appropriate ratio to determine assessed value.

Step Six: Notification
By March 1 of each year, the Assessor must notify each property owner in the County of the proposed valuation of each parcel of real property. The owner currently has 60 days to submit a petition for review of the valuation.

Step Seven: Preparation and Certification of the Assessment Rolls
The assessment rolls are the official list of all property in the County subject to property tax. Federally owned and Indian reservation lands and improvements are not listed on assessment rolls in Arizona. Information listed for secured property includes:
a. Parcel identification number
b. Legal description
c. Name of the owner of record
d. Address of the parcel or owner
e. Full cash value and limited property value of the parcel
f. The assessed value of land and improvements
g. The assessed value of any taxable secured personal property
h. Exemption codes and amounts
i. Jurisdictions in which the property is liable for tax

The Assessor is responsible for submitting the lists of County properties and the certified assessment rolls to the County Board of Supervisors. When the County Board has completed its actions on property owners' appeals of valuation, and when the Board has completed any equalization procedures it may undertake, the County Assessor prepares an abstract of the final assessment roll for each city, town, or other special taxing district in the County. These abstracts list, identify, and show the value for property within that jurisdiction. They are delivered to the governing body of that district for the purpose of identifying the tax base upon which property taxes may be levied.

Step Eight: Defend Values
The County Assessor and staff are expected to defend the basis for any property valuation at any level of the appeal process. The Assessor has the statutory authority to attend any Board of Equalization hearing and present evidence to support the valuation of the property in question. They should be prepared to justify all valuations and methods to the satisfaction of the appeal body and ideally, to the satisfaction of the taxpayer.

Step Nine: Correct Errors
A.R.S. 42-16251 thru 16252 allows the Assessor to make changes and correct errors in the identification, classification or valuation of property. The statutes set forth specific conditions under which changes may be made and applies to factual errors occuring in previous valuation years.

Step Ten: Repeat this process annually
The duties of the Assessor follow an annual cycle.