Cochise County assessor seeks $50,000 for fee appraisers, warns new exemptions and proposed ag bill are shrinking local tax base

Cochise County’s assessor office briefed the Board of Supervisors on April 16 about budget needs and valuation trends that officials say are reducing the county’s tax base.

Presenter Bill Lind told the board the assessor’s office is requesting about $50,000 to create a professional-services line to hire contracted fee appraisers so the county can “go into court with a level playing field” in tax litigation. He described the fee appraiser as a contract hire, not a permanent staff position, and said the line would be used case by case.

The office also asked for a CoStar commercial-market-data subscription to improve commercial property appraisals. Lind said the subscription would cost roughly $500–$600 a month, or about $6,400 a year, and would be entered as a funding request into the budget if approved.

Phil Blind Decker, Cochise County’s assessor, provided context on valuation trends and recent legislative impacts. Decker said the county’s 2026 full cash value rose about 1.8 (roughly $245 million), but the legislature’s reduction of the class-one assessment rate (from 16% to 15.5% for 2026) cost the…