PHOENIX — The Maricopa County Fire Department has learned it owes millions in tax back payments due to a property tax dispute it didn't cause and says a court ruling could force it to cut essential services, rely on outdated equipment and close fire stations.

“This was a completely unexpected event,” said Arizona State Fire Medical Corps Chief Mark Burdick, “so we have the capacity to respond when they need us on their worst day.”

Burdick said the fire department is owed $5.9 million in tax refunds, or 10 percent of its annual budget, after a judge ruled that Maricopa County was overtaxing some property owners.

“It was a huge failure. It cost $6 million,” he said. “It's like they're putting the fire department out of business.”

The Arizona Department of Fire and Medical Services operates 12 fire stations located primarily in unincorporated areas of the county, primarily serving the senior living communities of Sun City West and Sun Lakes.

Burdick said he first found out he owed money when he received a notice from the county treasurer late last year, but he never expected it to be so large or that he would have to pay it back with interest in a year.

“That means cutting services. Or there's a capital account,” he said.

Burdick said cutting checks from the capital account would mean not being able to buy new fire engines, ambulances and firefighting equipment.

“We have no say in how our taxes are assessed — zero — but we pay the price,” he said.

Court decision at the heart of property tax dispute

This all stems from a 2016 case called Qasimyar v. Maricopa County.

The Tax Court ruled in favor of property owners who sued the county, who argued they were unfairly and erroneously assessed when their properties were changed from primary residences to rentals or second homes, or vice versa, and therefore should have owed lower property tax bills due to a so-called “change of use.”

The Arizona Court of Appeals upheld the ruling, agreeing that some property owners had been overtaxed, which forced a reassessment of hundreds of thousands of homes and led to refunds on property taxes from 2015 through 2021.

of Maricopa County Assessor and accounting Both now have their own websites The far-reaching impact of the court's decision.

Other fire departments and tax authorities were also affected.

It's not just one fire department that has to come up with millions of dollars in tax refunds in just one year.

John Flynn of the Arizona Association of Fire Protection Districts said Maricopa County fire protection districts are owed an estimated $10.6 million.

“This is a very serious situation,” Flynn said. “It's going to be devastating to our ability to provide services.”

The county treasurer estimates he will have to repay a total of $329 million in property tax refunds, with hundreds of millions of dollars owed by all of the county's taxing districts, including school districts, fire districts and cities and towns.

The county said 164,000 property owners will receive more than $300 million in refunds.

“This is a situation that arose because of an error made by the county assessor in valuing real estate, residential property,” Flynn said.

ABC15 obtained a list from the Maricopa County Treasurer showing how much debt each district owes. The following databases.

Maricopa County Assessor inherits litigation fallout

Maricopa County Assessor Eddie Cook was not on the job at the time the lawsuit was filed. He said he sympathizes with the fire department's concerns but doesn't agree with the judge's decision.

“In my opinion, the county assessor made no mistake in 2016. I think the judge got it wrong,” Cook said.

Asked if the county did everything it could to fight the lawsuit and the ruling, Cook said, “I wasn't here when it happened. I believe we could have done better.”

Despite his opinion, Cook acknowledged that the court's decision has created significant challenges for taxing districts, especially fire districts that rely solely on tax revenue.

“I get it. It's not fair to them. They haven't done anything wrong,” he said. “The county is going to try to help these particular jurisdictions that are going to be hit the hardest.”

Since the court's ruling, state lawmakers have passed bills that effectively overturn the judge's ruling.

“The bill we passed will fix this problem and it will never happen again,” Cook said.

But the change in state law is not retroactive and will not change the impact that the fire department must still pay back millions of dollars in tax refunds at 8 percent annual interest until they are paid in full, according to a notice issued by the county treasurer in April.

“The assessor made a mistake and we're going to pay it back with interest,” Chief Burdick said.

“That will happen. [a solution]”They have to, otherwise the solution will be to disrupt and reduce services,” Flynn said.

ABC15 asked the county assessor why the taxing district is accruing interest and was told it's something the county treasurer should ask.

Maricopa County Treasurer John Allen's office told ABC15 they had no comment and referred questions to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

A spokesman for the Board of Supervisors said they are actively looking into solutions but have no concrete solutions in place yet.

State lawmakers recently passed the bill. HB2909This opens up more funding options for certain taxing districts, but it is not yet clear what this legislation means for fire districts and how fire districts will repay this funding.

ABC15 will continue to cover this issue.

Do you have information for ABC15 investigators? Email investigator Jennifer Kovaleski at 018-552-4422. jennifer.kovaleski@abc15.com.