Cochise County issued the following announcement on Oct. 31.

The Board of Supervisors has adopted the amended secondary property tax rate and levy for the City of Willcox, following an administrative error on the part of Cochise County.

After the Board originally adopted the rates and levies for all taxing districts within the County on August 20, it was discovered a secondary property tax had been included for the City of Willcox, based on the previous year’s rate of 0.8497. However, the rate should have been zero.

At a Special Meeting on October 30, the Board agreed to adopt the amended rate to reflect the corrected amount.

“We knew we were the cause of the problem and it’s an error we need to fix,” said Supervisor Ann English. “We made a mistake.”

Property owners will either receive a refund, or have the overpayment applied to the second half of their tax bills, explained Cochise County Treasurer Cathy Traywick. The Treasurer’s Office is working to send out amended bills to impacted residents and staff have updated the department’s computer system to reflect the correct amount. Anyone who pays online or in person will pay the amended rate. Property tax bills are due November 1.

The incorrect secondary tax rate amounts to a total of $156,648 based on current assessed property values.

County Administrator Ed Gilligan stressed the issue was the result of an administrative error, and not a mistake on the part of the Treasurer’s Office.

“The Treasurer’s Office will bear the weight of correcting and fixing this, but is not responsible for the error. That was on the administrative side of the house,” he said. “We are making procedural changes to eliminate this situation ever happening again. We appreciate that Cathy has jumped in with both feet.”

Willcox residents with questions regarding their property tax bill can call the County Treasurer’s Office at (520) 432-8400. Return calls may be delayed due to the current property tax season call volume.

Original source can be found here.