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Assessor's office: casitas assessed after completion; two-year window, 3% cap may still apply
Summary
At a Bernalillo County community Q&A, an assessor's office representative said the county waits until accessory units (casitas) are complete before assessing them, allows up to two years for completion, and adds construction cost to assessed value while preserving the 3% cap when the owner still qualifies.
An assessor's office representative told attendees at a Bernalillo County community Q&A that the county generally waits until an accessory dwelling unit—commonly called a casita—is finished before adding it to a property's assessed value. "The Bernalillo County assessor's office has a policy of waiting for you to complete your casita before we assess it, and we give you up to 2 years to finish completion..." the representative said.
The representative said that when a casita is added, the county will add the construction cost to the property's full value and maintain the statutory 3% cap on assessed-value growth if the owner still qualifies. To illustrate, the office used a simplified example: if a property's full value were $100,000 and it remained eligible for the cap, the maximum assessed increase would be 3% (to $103,000); adding a $25,000 casita would increase the property's full value (the example cited $128,000). The assessor's office framed these numbers as an illustration of how assessed value can change rather than as a binding valuation method.
Residents with questions about timing, permitted work, or how a specific addition will be valued were directed to follow up with the Bernalillo County Assessor's Office for case-specific guidance.
