Sarah Ortiz was born and raised in Gallup, New Mexico and is a graduate of Gallup High School.  She was elected Assessor and took office January 1, 2003.  Prior to that she worked for the Bureau of Elections for McKinley County for more than eight years and served a four year term as Secretary/Treasurer of the Redrock Chapter.   While serving as the County Assessor and putting in full time with McKinley County, she is also attending the University of New Mexico working toward a BA Degree in Business.

The major functions of the Assessor’s Office are to discover, locate and value all residential and non-residential property within McKinley County.  Ortiz and her staff of four appraisers and a mapper locate properties through surveys, mortgages, and deed transactions, and then go into the field to inspect new constructions and place a value on each dwelling or property.

The taxable value of the property typically is one third of the full property value, so property owners pay taxes on only one third of the actual value of their property minus any allowable exemptions, such as head-of-household or veteran's.  The Assessor establishes these taxable property valuations and provides that information to the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration (DFA). 

The County Treasurer then uses a complex rate schedule set by the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) to determine the amount of tax owned by the property owner and then levies and collects property taxes to help fund the operations of McKinley County and cover debt service on bonds that have been passed. 

It is important that property owners review the valuation figures o n the Notice of Value (NOV), because this is the last step in the review process.  The value on the notice is what will be used to calculate the taxes you will pay after your local government agencies and school districts set their budgets and the tax rates are adopted.  An exception to this is agricultural land, which s assessed and set by the State’s Property Tax Division.

The Assessor’s Office also provides information on projected property tax income for the McKinley County budget as well as helping to establish the overall value of the county with the DFA.  The total valuation of McKinley County property is $694,496,903.  The picture is complicated by the fact that 80 percent of the land in the county is Indian reservation land or other non-taxable federal land.  Only businesses on reservation land that are owned by non-tribal members are taxable and only 20% of the total land in the county actually is taxable. 

Ortiz and her staff maintain computerized tax roles of about 16,227 property owner accounts with legal descriptions and values of each piece of property.  The Assessor also works with the County Clerk to keep track of all deed transfers when property is bought and sold.

Should you have any questions or need assistance with any property tax issues, visit our office or call at (505)863-3032.

Chief County Appraiser, Phil Gutierrez

Mr. Gutierrez is a certified Appraiser by the New Mexico Tax and Revenue Department and also holds a residential registration with the New Mexico Appraisal Board.  Mr. Gutierrez is a life time resident of Gallup and a graduate of Gallup High School.  Mr. Gutierrez has worked with McKinley County for 22 years working his way up from the mapping department.

Sam Sandoval – Senior Appraiser

Mary Ann Marquez – Appraiser V/Data Coordinator

Tammy Williams – Deed/Affidavit/Livestock Appraiser

Corilen Largo - Personal Property Appraiser

Frank Trujillo – Mobile Home Technician

Jennifer Russell – CAD Technician

Paulinda Yazzie – Office Receptionist

Vincent Esparza – Field Technician (Temp)

 

Send an email to the County Assessor