Brandon Wells

It's that time of year-property tax time. Homeowners have had 2008 property tax bills since early November. Payment was due November 10 and is delinquent after December 10. In the four counties of metro Albuquerque, the county assessor figures out the amount of your tax. Then the county treasurer sends a notice of value in the spring and the tax bill in November.
Most homeowners arrange property tax payment as part of the mortgage payment. If you pay your property taxes directly, you can pay 2009 taxes in installments. However, you must enroll in the program by December 31, 2008.
Your property tax is based on the market value of the property. But values change. Prices for metro single family homes for the third quarter of this year were down about five percent. Prices have dropped more in some neighborhoods.
If the value of your home has dropped, so should the property taxes. The amount of tax changes in the year after the value is determined.
Gathering data to protest your property tax is a good project for early 2009. That's because tax protests can only be filed during the 30 days after the April 1 mailing of the notice of value.
A real estate professional is a good place to start checking whether your property tax bill makes sense. Finding the current market price is the first step. We can help research current market values. You also can check your neighborhood at www.coldwellbankerlegacy.com.
Both the Bernalillo County assessor and treasurer are reached at www.bernco.gov. You can search property records and find, for any address, current ownership information, the notice of values, the tax bill, tax and payment history and use the online property tax calculator.
For the year ending June 30, 2006, New Mexico was 48th in state and local property tax collections per capita and 47th per household. The figures are from the Tax Foundation (www.taxfoun dation.org).
The Web sites for the other metro counties are www.sandovalcounty.com; www.co.valencia.nm.us; and www.torrancecountynm.org.