San Tan Valley does not have a single property tax rate. Because the community sits in unincorporated Pinal County, your bill is built from several overlapping jurisdictions — county, school district, fire district, community college, and sometimes a Community Facilities District — each setting its own rate per $100 of assessed value. For a sense of scale, the J.O. Combs Unified School District’s combined primary and secondary rate alone runs about $4.42 per $100 of assessed value for fiscal year 2025–2026, and that is only one slice of the full bill.1J.O. Combs Unified School District. FY 2025 Expenditure Budget The actual total depends on which districts cover your parcel, and two neighbors a few streets apart can see meaningfully different bills.
How Your Tax Rate Is Built
Because San Tan Valley is unincorporated, there is no city line on the bill. That removes one taxing authority compared with Queen Creek or Chandler. What remains is still a stack. Pinal County levies a primary rate covering administration, roads, and sheriff patrols. Central Arizona College collects a community college district rate. Your school district adds both primary and secondary rates. A fire district charges for emergency services. And if your subdivision falls inside a Community Facilities District, there is an additional line for infrastructure debt.
The sum of those layers is your composite rate. Pinal County publishes a combined rate sheet each fiscal year that breaks down every jurisdiction’s levy per $100 of assessed value, available through the Treasurer’s office or on the county website.2Pinal County. Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Tax Levy and Rate Sheet That sheet is the only reliable way to see the exact rate on your specific parcel for a given year.
Primary and Secondary Levies
Every Arizona tax bill splits into primary and secondary categories, and they behave differently.
Primary taxes fund day-to-day operations of counties, cities, community college districts, and certain other entities. The Arizona Constitution limits how much a jurisdiction can collect on the primary side: total primary levy cannot grow by more than 2% a year, plus revenue from newly built properties.3Arizona Department of Revenue. New Construction Valuation Property Tax Levy Limit The cap is on dollars collected, not on the rate, so the rate itself shifts up or down depending on total assessed values. In practice, primary bills tend to grow slowly.
Secondary taxes are not bound by that limit. They cover voter-approved bonds, budget overrides, and special district debt. When voters approve a school bond or a fire district passes an override, the resulting levy lands on the secondary side. Those rates can jump or fall depending on when bonds are issued, how fast they are paid off, and whether voters approve new ones. In San Tan Valley, secondary rates from school districts and Community Facilities Districts are typically the most volatile piece of the bill.
Turning the Rate Into a Dollar Amount
Knowing the rate is only half the calculation. Arizona taxes a fraction of your home’s value, not the whole thing, and the valuation itself is capped.
The Pinal County Assessor calculates two numbers for your home. Full Cash Value reflects the current market price. Limited Property Value is the figure actually used to compute taxes.4Arizona Department of Revenue. Assessment Procedures Limited Property Value Under state law, Limited Property Value can rise no more than 5% a year over the prior year’s figure.5Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 42-13301 – Limited Property Value If the market jumps 15% in a year, your taxable value still moves only 5%. Over time this builds a gap that benefits long-term owners. Recent buyers may find their Limited Property Value already sits close to Full Cash Value, leaving less cushion.
The Assessment Ratio
Arizona does not tax the full Limited Property Value. Owner-occupied homes fall into legal Class 3 and are assessed at 10% of the Limited Property Value.6Cochise County. Frequently Asked Questions Rental and leased residential properties in Class 4 use the same 10% ratio. That 10% figure is your assessed value, and the tax rate applies to it.
A Worked Example
Say your home has a Limited Property Value of $350,000. Assessed value is $350,000 × 10% = $35,000. If your combined rate from all jurisdictions comes to $10.50 per $100 of assessed value, your annual bill is ($35,000 ÷ 100) × $10.50 = $3,675. Every additional dollar of combined rate per $100 moves that $350,000 home’s bill by $350 a year.
Your Notice of Value arrives from the Pinal County Assessor each February and lists both Full Cash Value and Limited Property Value for the coming tax year.7Pinal County. Appeal Your Valuation The Assessor’s online portal also shows current valuations at any time.
Special Districts That Can Push the Rate Higher
The most common source of an unexpectedly high San Tan Valley bill is a Community Facilities District. Developers create CFDs under state law to finance infrastructure for master-planned communities of 600 acres or more. Roads, sewer mains, and parks are built with bond proceeds, and homeowners inside the district repay the bonds through a secondary levy.8Pima County. Community Facilities Districts A CFD can add several dollars per $100 of assessed value and remains in place until the bonds are retired. Before buying in a planned community, ask whether the parcel is inside a CFD and what the current levy is.
Fire districts are the other major add-on. Because the area is unincorporated, fire and emergency medical services come from independent fire districts rather than a city department. Each district is created by local petition, governed by its own elected board, and funded through its own tax rate.9Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 48-851 – Noncontiguous County Island Fire District Formation Each adopts an annual budget after a public hearing.10Justia. Arizona Code 48-805 – Fire District Powers and Duties District boundaries follow subdivision maps rather than city limits, which is why homes across the street from each other can sit in different fire districts with different rates.
Exemptions and Relief That Lower Your Bill
Several Arizona programs can reduce what you owe. All are handled through the county assessor’s office, and most require applications on a fixed schedule.
Senior Valuation Protection
Owners age 65 or older can apply to freeze the Limited Property Value on their primary residence so it does not rise from year to year. The freeze does not erase your tax bill; it holds the taxable value steady while the market moves. To qualify, at least one owner must be 65 or older, must have lived in the home for at least two years, and must meet income limits: $47,712 for a single owner or $59,640 for two or more owners, averaged over the prior three years. Social Security and veterans’ disability payments count toward that figure.11Maricopa County Assessor’s Office. Senior Valuation Relief Applications are accepted between January 1 and September 1, and the freeze must be renewed every three years.
Widows, Widowers, Disabled Persons, and Veterans
Arizona also offers an assessed-value exemption for qualifying widows, widowers, persons with total and permanent disabilities, and veterans with service-connected disabilities. The exemption reduces assessed Limited Property Value by up to $4,873, provided total assessed value stays under a statutory threshold.12Maricopa County Assessor’s Office. Personal Exemptions For veterans with a partial disability rating, the exemption is multiplied by the disability percentage. Veterans with a 100% service-connected disability rating may qualify for a full exemption on their primary residence, subject to income limits.
Household income for these programs excludes Social Security, military pensions, and veterans’ disability payments. For households without children under 18, income cannot exceed $39,865. The filing deadline is February 28 of the current tax year, though a deadline waiver can push it to September 1. You can claim only one exemption category even if you qualify for more than one.13Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 42-11111 – Exemption for Property Widows Widowers Persons With Disabilities Veterans
Appealing Your Valuation
If the valuation on your February notice looks too high, you have 60 days from the mailing date to file a petition for review with the Pinal County Assessor. There is no filing fee at any level of the administrative process.14Pinal County. Appeal Process The exact deadline is printed on the notice, so check it as soon as the card arrives.
The Assessor must rule on all petitions by August 15. If you disagree with the decision, you can appeal to the County Board of Equalization within 25 days, or file in Arizona Tax Court within 60 days.15Arizona State Board of Equalization. How To Appeal You can also skip the administrative route and go straight to Tax Court, with a December 15 deadline, as long as you have not already filed with the Assessor.
For a residential appeal, the strongest evidence is recent comparable sales in your neighborhood showing lower values per square foot than the Assessor assigned. Bring data, not opinions. The administrative process is built to be handled without an attorney, and the absence of filing fees means there is no financial risk in trying.
Payment Deadlines and the Cost of Being Late
The Pinal County Treasurer mails tax bills in September after rates are finalized in August. Bills over $100 can be split in two: the first half is due October 1 and becomes delinquent after 5:00 p.m. on November 1; the second half is due March 1 and becomes delinquent after 5:00 p.m. on May 1. Bills of $100 or less must be paid in full with the first installment.16Pinal County. Important Dates
You can pay online, by mail, or in person at the Treasurer’s office in Florence. Online e-check carries a flat $2 fee; credit and debit card fees scale with the payment size and run roughly $75 on a $3,000 bill, so e-check is far cheaper for larger amounts.17Pinal County. Pay Online Mailed checks avoid convenience fees, but they must arrive before the delinquency deadline, not just be postmarked by it.
Delinquent taxes carry 16% annual simple interest, with a partial month counted as a full month.18Pinal County Treasurer. Pinal County Tax Lien Sale Information Booklet On a $3,000 balance, that works out to roughly $480 in the first year. Each February, the Treasurer holds an online auction selling tax lien certificates on parcels with unpaid taxes. A lien does not immediately transfer ownership, and you can redeem it at any time by paying the delinquent amount plus interest. If left unredeemed, the certificate holder can eventually foreclose through court action, which can lead to the property being sold by Treasurer’s Deed. Missing a payment in Pinal County triggers expensive interest right away and puts the home at risk within months.