Arizona property tax basics: Full Cash Value, Limited Property Value and the 5% cap

For your own situation, ask the Assessor, the Treasurer or a tax professional.

Two values on every notice

The Maricopa County Assessor’s Notice of Value shows two values for each property:

• Full Cash Value (FCV). The Assessor’s word for market value, land and improvements together. It’s the value you can appeal.
• Limited Property Value (LPV). A value the Legislature created to limit large tax increases. It can never be higher than the FCV, and it can’t be appealed directly.

Most property taxes are calculated from the LPV.

The 5% limit

Proposition 117, which voters approved in 2012, limits the LPV’s increase to 5% a year. The limit doesn’t apply when improvements are added or removed: a new addition or pool, for example, can raise the LPV by more than 5%. Because of the limit, a home’s LPV can sit well below its FCV after years of rising prices, and the LPV keeps rising up to 5% a year until it catches up, even in a year when market values are flat.

That’s why the seller’s tax bill isn’t a reliable guide to what you’ll pay: the buyer inherits the LPV, but the bill also depends on the home’s classification (below), the tax rates of every district the parcel is in, and any changes to the home.

Primary residence or not: Class 3 and Class 4

The Notice of Value also shows the property’s legal classification. For homes, the Assessor uses:

• Class 3, primary residence: your main home, where you live more than seven months of the year. You can have only one. Class 3 also covers a home a qualified family member lives in as their only home, and a primary residence where you rent out part of it.
• Class 4, not a primary residence: a second or vacation home that isn’t rented (4.1), or a home rented to someone other than a qualified family member (4.2).

Classification affects the bill. An owner-occupied Class 3 home qualifies for additional state aid that reduces the school district’s primary property tax, under A.R.S. § 15-972, capped at $600 per parcel. A second home or a rental doesn’t.

The Assessor regularly verifies primary residence status. If it sends a notice of intent to reclassify, respond by the deadline on the notice, or the home can be reclassified as a secondary residence. To correct the class yourself, the Assessor takes a Request for Residential Legal Class Change for the current year, and a Notice of Claim for up to three prior years.

When notices arrive and when to appeal

• Notices of Value for homes arrive by March 1, for the next tax year. For example, the 2027 notices were sent on February 20, 2026.
• Appeals of a home’s value or classification were due within 60 days of that notice: April 21, 2026, for tax year 2027. You can appeal to the Assessor with the State’s petition form and supporting evidence such as an appraisal or recent comparable sales.
• Tax bills come from the County Treasurer, which issues them in September.

When taxes are due

Under A.R.S. § 42-18052, the first half is due October 1 and becomes delinquent after 5 p.m. on November 1; the second half is due March 1 and becomes delinquent after 5 p.m. on May 1. A bill of $100 or less is due in full on October 1. When a date falls on a weekend or holiday, it moves to the next business day. Most mortgage lenders collect taxes in an escrow account and pay them for you.

Every district on the bill

A bill combines several taxing districts: the county, school districts, community college and special districts, and the city or town. The Town of Paradise Valley’s Resident Guide (revised 2023), for example, says the Town levies no primary or secondary property tax, though county, state, school and special district taxes still apply there. Some newer communities have a community facilities district (CFD) assessment on the tax bill, which the Buyer Advisory suggests checking on the property’s detailed tax statement.

What to do as a buyer

• Look up the parcel on the Assessor’s site for its FCV, LPV and class, and on the Treasurer’s site for its current bill and tax districts.
• Budget from the LPV and your own classification, not from the seller’s bill.
• If the home will be your primary residence, make sure the Assessor classifies it as one after you close.

The area pages cover each area’s lots and homes, and Buying with Aaron covers the steps. To talk through carrying costs for a specific home, book a consultation.