At its August 16th meeting, the La Paz County Supervisory Board approved property taxes and rates for the 2022-23 fiscal year. In addition to county taxes and rates, we also approved school district and fire district taxes and rates. , and other special districts around the county. These rates are approved by supervisors, but are determined by the district itself.

La Paz County’s total tax rate will decrease from 2.5516 percent on a net assessed value of $100,000 for fiscal years 2021-22 to 1.8205 for fiscal years 2022-23. This includes both primary and secondary taxes. However, this reduction is only temporary. This reflects how, by state law, surplus funds collected from sales taxes on judgment bonds in the Yakima case must be used to offset next fiscal year’s property taxes. In 2023-24, the tax rate will return to its previous level.

The Yakima case revolved around a municipal sludge drying facility adjacent to a county landfill. Relations between the county and the Yakima Company deteriorated and a lawsuit was filed. In 2007, a La Paz County jury ordered Yakima to pay him $9 million in damages. Interest accrued over time and the amount increased to his $14 million. The legislature has passed laws allowing counties to issue bonds to pay for these damages and sales taxes to pay back the bonds. The terms of that law required the county to use surplus funds from sales taxes to offset property taxes in the fiscal year after the bonds were repaid.

The bond was repaid in 2021 and the tax ended on December 31, 2021.

Another countywide tax is levied on Arizona Western College, a community college district in La Paz and Yuma counties. Their total tax rate is 2.3969% of the net assessed value of $100,000 including both primary and secondary taxes. This is down from 2.4385% in 2021-22.

The secondary tax rate for the Joint Technical Education District of Western Arizona is 0.0500%.

Here are the property tax rates for school districts in the county: These are all percentages of the $100,000 net valuation. Figures in parentheses are the rates for the previous year.

Quartzsite Primary School: 1.9775 (2.3447)

Wenden Primary School: 5.3886 (5.3886)

Bowes Elementary School: 4.1224 (4.0973)

Parker Unified SD: 1.1906 (1.884)

Salome Elementary School: 4.2526 (4.5316)

Bicentennial HS (Salome High): 1.3627 (1.2551)

Parker School District does not have a primary property tax because it receives influence assistance from the federal government. This is because the District includes the Colorado River Indian Reservation.

These are the property tax rates for each fire district. The figures in parentheses are the rates of the previous year.

Parker: 2.8022 (2.6369)

McMullen Valley: 2.7880 (2.6609)

Buckskin: 3.3750 (3.2498)

Quartzite: 3.3738 (3.2498)

Ehrenberg: 3.1802 (3.0008)

Boss: 2.4700 (2.3500)

Other districts:

Buckskin Sanitary: 1.1883 (1.1883)

Municipal Street Lighting Improvement District (price per square foot):

La Paz Estate: 0.0086 (0.0139)

Lakeside 5 and 5A: 0.0101 (0.0030)

Salome: 0.4201 (0.3785)

Wenden: 0.3089 (0.6371)

Domestic water quality improvement districts:

Of the water improvement districts in the county, only Desert Sky imposes a property tax. The secondary tax rate is 4.0810% of the net assessed value of $100,000.

Irrigation area (Acres):

Aguila: 7.1701 (6.9910)

Cibola Valley: 12.7537 (8.9236)

McMullen Valley: 17.9644 (10.4454)