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BILL # HB 2080 |
TITLE: |
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SPONSOR: Bliss |
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PREPARED BY: Ethan Scheider |
STATUS: As Amended by House GOV |
The adopted strike-everything amendment to HB 2080 would require the county assessors to provide a system by January 1, 2027 that would allow property owners to opt in to receive notifications when the assessor receives notice of a change in the property’s ownership or owner mailing address. Additionally, the adopted amendment would change from a class 1 misdemeanor to a class 4 felony the offense of knowingly filing false documents with the county recorder.
Estimated Impact
If a county currently lacks a notification system, we estimate that the bill would result in additional county administrative costs to process system enrollments and notify property owners of a change in a parcel’s ownership or owner mailing address. If a county has a current system that can accommodate this notification system, these costs could be less. Cost estimates from the counties range from $3,000 to $150,000 in the first year, with additional staffing costs anticipated as participation expands.
The bill may also result in increased incarceration costs for the counties and the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC). We are awaiting a response from the Administrative Office of the Courts on their estimated fiscal impact of this legislation.
Our estimate assumes the following:
1) Both the Pinal and Mohave County Assessor’s offices currently offer optional notification programs to property owners for changes to a parcel’s ownership and owner mailing address.
– According to the Mohave County Assessor’s office, the cost of operating the Assessor Address Protection Program (AAPP) is $39,100 per year. This estimate assumes a cost per applicant of $50.13, mainly to compensate county staff who operate the notification program. Mohave currently charges a $50 application fee for this program.
– According to the Arizona Association of Counties (AACO), the estimated staff cost per application form submitted for Pinal County’s Parcel Alert List (PAL) program is currently $9.04. After a little over a year since the program began, 5,500 people have signed up for the PAL program for a total cost of $49,700.
2) According to AACO, Pima County reports having a similar voluntary process as that proposed in the bill, whereby the county sends a postcard to the previous address on file if a notarized or digitally signed change of address has been processed with the county. They report annual staff costs of $67,200 and miscellaneous costs of $10,400.
3) AACO has compiled cost estimates from the following counties that do not currently offer an optional notification system:
– Maricopa County estimates that it would cost $150,000 to implement a notification system. This cost considers adding new features to their Computer-Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA) software.
– Yavapai, Graham and Yuma Counties estimate that they would initially require $93,800 to hire staff to process system enrollments.
– Gila County estimates that the annual staff costs for operating a free notification system would be $18,400.
– Greenlee County estimates the annual staff cost for operating the program would be $4,000.
– La Paz County estimates that the annual staff costs for operating a free notification system would be $3,000.
4) In most cases, the set up costs of these systems would be minimal, as many county assessors’ database software possess the capability to alert staff of changes to a parcel’s ownership and owner mailing address.
5) Many counties anticipate requiring an additional staff person to help operate the program as participation expands. Estimates from the counties on the annual cost of adding a dedicated staff person range from $55,000 to $60,700.
6) Increasing the criminal classification for knowingly submitting a false claim or forgery to real property would increase sentencing for individuals convicted of this offense. The presumptive sentence for a class 1 misdemeanor is 6 months in jail or 3 years of probation, whereas the presumptive sentence for a class 4 felony is 2.5 years in jail.
3/6/26