Today, everybody is talking about property taxes, especially when it comes to buying a home. Yet many people who purchase a home in Santa Fe County are often surprised by our low property taxes in comparison to other States. This is remarkable given New Mexico is a large state with a small population. Fortunately, New Mexico does have income from other investment and natural resources.
In Santa Fe Country and throughout New Mexico, the levying of property tax on real estate is as old as our State government which is 2012 is one-hundred years. Here “levied” means collected by a legal process and in Santa Fe County the tax collection authority is given to the Santa Fe County Treasurer, which is an elected position.
In the past 100 years, there have not been a lot of changes. Santa Fe is still in the land of Manana. Here are the key statutes, valuation changes and a recent New Mexico Court of Appeals ruling on property taxes.
- The New Mexico Constitution in Article VIII, Section 1 states that “the percentage of values against which tax rates are assessed shall not exceed thirty-three and one third percent."
- All real property or real estate in Santa Fe County is taxed at one-third of its “market
value. This means a single family home, condominium, townhome, duplex or land purchased for $300,000 will be assessed at a $300,000 with a net taxable value of $100,000.
- Here are a few property tax estimates based on a range of purchase prices:
$100,000 purchase market price has an estimated property tax of $684
$350,000 purchase market price has an estimated property tax of $2,382
$525,000 purchase market price has an estimated property tax of $3573
$775,000 purchase market price has an estimated property tax of $5,274
$999,000 purchase market price has an estimated property tax of $6,799
- In 2001, the NM State Legislature passed a new law limiting incremental property taxincreases to no more than 3 percent.
- In 2012, the New Mexico Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of the law capping residential property tax valuation increases only until a home changes ownership.
- This recent ruling saved many New Mexico long-time homeowners from substantial tax increases.
What is important to remember is your property tax will be based on one-third of the market value of your real property purchase. Next, any tax increase is capped to be no more the 3% per year. Now do the math. Property taxes in New Mexico are not the same as in the other 49 States. If you are considering relocating to Santa Fe or purchasing investment property or land to buy and hold, our property taxes are something important to consider when you pencil in the numbers. For more information on Santa Fe Real Estate, contact Emily Medvec at 505-216-6280 for a consultation to see if Santa Fe is the right move for you.
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