Arizona § 42-16251 - Definitions

§ 42-16251. Definitions

In this article, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. "Board" means the county board of equalization or the state board of equalization, as appropriate.

2. "Court" means either the superior court or tax court.

3. "Error" means any mistake in assessing or collecting property taxes resulting from:

(a) An imposition of an incorrect, erroneous or illegal tax rate that resulted in assessing or collecting excessive taxes.

(b) An incorrect designation or description of the use or occupancy of property or its classification pursuant to chapter 12, article 1 of this title.

(c) Applying the incorrect assessment ratio percentages prescribed by chapter 15, article 1 of this title.

(d) Misreporting or failing to report property if a statutory duty exists to report the property.

(e) Subject to the requirements of section 42-16255, subsection B, a valuation or legal classification that is based on an error that is exclusively factual in nature or due to a specific legal restriction that affects the subject property and that is objectively verifiable without the exercise of discretion, opinion or judgment and that is demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence, such as:

(i) A mistake in the description of the size, use or ownership of land, improvements or personal property.

(ii) Clerical or typographical errors in reporting or entering data that was used directly to establish valuation.

(iii) A failure to timely capture on the tax roll a change in value or legal classification caused by new construction, the destruction or demolition of improvements, the splitting of one parcel of real property into two or more new parcels or the consolidating of two or more parcels of real property into one new parcel existing on the valuation date.

(iv) The existence or nonexistence of the property on the valuation date.

(v) Property that is destroyed after the lien date.

(vi) Any other objectively verifiable error that does not require the exercise of discretion, opinion or judgment.

Error does not include a correction that results from a change in the law as a result of a final nonappealable ruling by a court of competent jurisdiction in a case that does not involve the property for which a correction is claimed.

4. "Tax officer" means the department, county assessor or county treasurer, as applicable.

5. "Taxpayer" means the owner of real or personal property that is liable for tax.