Valencia County Corrected Tax Bills Still Show Duplicate Charges

Valencia County taxpayers opened mail in late December to find property tax statements stamped "corrected" that in practice continue to show distribution and calculation errors. County leaders say the total amount owed and the mil rates are accurate, but several line items are duplicated on many bills, leading homeowners to question whether they are being charged twice for the same local levies.

The original problem surfaced when November 2025 bills showed the county residential operational mil rate nearly doubled, jumping from 6.733 mils to more than 11 mils. County officials traced that error to a data-entry mistake earlier in 2025 in which an extra zero inflated a nonresidential valuation. An independent review was ordered and corrected valuations were submitted to the state. The corrected mil rates were returned to the county by Nov. 25.

Because a 2025 tax roll already existed in the county's billing software, the system initially rejected the updated roll. When the new roll was finally imported, Tyler, the software vendor, communicated to county staff that the import "kind of conflicted with what had been there and it just jumbled all those distribution rates," Treasurer Ron Saiz said. Tyler enabled the assessor's office to print a correct, detailed distribution list for taxpayers, but that same detailed output is not yet available to the treasurer's office for printed coupons.

The duplicated entries most commonly involve three local agencies: the Middle Rio Grande Conservation District, the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District and the Valencia County Arroyo Flood Control District. In one side-by-side comparison posted by a resident, the flood control district charge appeared twice on a corrected bill, showing $30.10 at a .500 rate and a second separate line of $23.54 at the same rate. Residents on social media have speculated that legacy figures from the earlier incorrect roll were carried forward into the corrected bills.

County officials emphasized that payments already received are accounted for in the system, even when special assessments or coupon lines display incorrectly after payments were reapplied during corrections. Chief Deputy Treasurer Russell Schmidt asked taxpayers to come to the treasurer's office for direct account information rather than relying on social media while the county resolves the printing and distribution issues.

Assessor Celia Dittmaier said she is "100 percent confident" the rates are now correct. Officials also said payments will be backdated and that penalties and interest for first-half 2025 taxes will not be applied while technical cleanup continues. The ongoing work aims to reconcile printed bills with internal accounting records so taxpayers can be certain of the amounts they owe without risking duplicate payments.