Oops —
Property taxes higher than thought

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — It appears that the McKinley County Commission may have been a bit hasty in its approval of new rates for property taxes for next year.

The commission had a special meeting on Tuesday to approve the new property tax rates for 2008-2009 and settled on rates that would slightly increase the amount people would pay for their property taxes.

The increases would mean that a person in the city who owned a house valued at $150,000 would pay an additional $21.50 a year, while those in the county would pay an additional $12.40 a year.

The county received an e-mail from the state Taxation and Revenue Office on Wednesday that these rates will have to be evaluated.

“After review of the mil rates,” stated the e-mail, “we have come across some discrepancies with the rates.”

The discrepancies involved the state debt service, which affects all 33 counties in the state, and some of the state’s school districts.

“As for the discrepancies, it was an oversight on our part, which has been found and is being corrected,” the e-mail read.

The changes are not expected to change the amounts significantly but any change would have to be approved by the county commission before the start of the new fiscal year, which is Oct. 1.

“We are advising all of (the county governments) not to implement any of the rates until you hear from our office,” the e-mail stated. “These changes will probably take up to a week.”