MARICOPA COUNTY ASSESSOR

LITIGATION DIVISIONFebruary 27, 2013

Litigation Division

Small Claims Tax (ST)Tax Court (TX)Civil (CV) (property tax related)

All property types: ◦Residential, Commercial, Land, Personal Property and IPRs

PersonnelNorman (Ned) Chappell, MAI –

Chief Litigation Appraiser◦3 Litigation Consultants – Review TX cases

◦4 Appraisers – Review ST cases◦Appraisers review plaintiff data, conduct a cost, market sales and/or market income analysis, and evaluate every litigation case for settlement or trial

PersonnelStephanie Wolfe – Paralegal /

Support Staff Supervisor◦5 Support Staff

Responsibilities: Data/case entry and tracking, opening and closing files, processing TASRs and court judgments.

◦TASR and Judgment turnaround time: 24 hours in most cases.

Litigation Review ProcessST Cases

◦Appraiser reviews case and Plaintiff data;

◦Appraiser contacts plaintiff seeking additional data;

◦Appraiser conducts cost, sales comparison and/or market income analysis;

◦Appraiser forwards a settlement recommendation to Plaintiff or prepares evidence packet for trial.

ST Disclosure RequirementA.R.S. § 12-172: Small Claims Value

Limit Increase to $2,000,000If the case is based on the income

approach to value, the taxpayer shall comply with section 42-16052 no later than ten business days before the hearing.◦If you are appealing the value of an

income producing property, you must provide the income data to the Assessor ten (10) or more business days before the trial/hearing.

ST Disclosure Requirement

A.R.S. § 42-16052◦The owner or agent shall provide income

and expense data relating to the property for the three most recent consecutive fiscal years ending on or before September 30 of the previous year.

◦The owner, an officer of a corporation, a general partner or designated agent shall file a sworn affidavit under penalty of perjury that the information is true and correct to the best of their knowledge.

ST Disclosure RequirementIf you do not disclose the

property income data, the Appraiser will inform the court that you have not submitted income data.

The Appraiser will prepare a market income analysis and present that analysis to the court as evidence of the property value.

Litigation Review ProcessTX Cases

◦Upon receipt of Plaintiff disclosure documents, assign case to an Appraiser.

◦Within 20 business days from the date Appraiser is assigned the case, the Appraiser reviews data and responds to County Attorney.

This is a change from last year’s 10 business day review due to a reduction in staff.

Twenty (20) Business Day ReviewWithin 20 business days after assignment

of a TX case to an Appraiser, the Appraiser will respond to the County Attorney.

The Appraiser will either:◦ Recommend settlement; or◦ Ask the County Attorney to obtain additional

information from the plaintiff; and/or ◦ Inform the County Attorney that they need

additional time to review the plaintiff’s documentation and provide a date when the attorney may expect a response from the appraiser.

Helpful HintsIf the subject was appraised in the past 5

years, please provide all the appraisals.Income Properties: Provide rent rolls,

income and expense info/profit and loss statements, and leases for last 3 years.

Sales Comparison: Provide sales that are comparable to the subject property – not just the subject sale data.

Please – Send us more than just the appeal packet that you submitted to the Assessor and/or SBOE.

STATISTICS:Assessor Litigation DivisionCYs 2006 thru 2012

Litigation Statistics

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 20120

250

500

750

1000

1250

1500

1750

2000

2250

113

214

664

1297

696

432355

186247

483

822

1101

564

460

303

467

1151

2126

1807

999

815

CV

ST

TX

TOTAL

Litigation Cases Filed Against Maricopa County

Litigation Statistics

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 20120

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

186247

483

822

1101

564

460

209 202 182

289

557

792

883

TX Litigation Cases Filed & Resolved

TX Cases Filed

TX Cases Resolved

Litigation Statistics

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 20120

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

113

214

664

1297

696

432355

110 132

309

672

1347

673

350

ST Litigation Cases Filed & Resolved

ST Cases Filed

ST Cases Resolved

Litigation Statistics

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 20120

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

2200

2400

Combined ST & TX Litigation Cases Resolved

Total Cases Filed

Total Cases Resolved

TX Cases Resolved

ST Cases Resolved

Questions

Thank You…..