BERNALILLO — Sandoval County Treasurer Laura M. Montoya has announced a delay in property tax collections for the first half of Tax Year 2019 due to House Bill 407.

House Bill 407 was enacted July 1. This legislation permitted school districts to have a mill levy question on the November election ballot and to have the results applied to the Tax Year 2019 tax bill if they turned in their paperwork by July.

The property tax bill is customarily sent out by Nov. 1 from the Sandoval County Treasurer’s Office, with a payment due date from Nov. 10 to Dec.10 for first-half tax season and April 10 through May 10 for second-half tax season. Due to this change, the treasurer’s office must wait until the Nov. 5 school election canvasses are completed.

The Sandoval County Treasurer’s Office has received an extension from the New Mexico Tax & Revenue Department, Property Tax Division, as follows:

• Dec. 6: Mailing of property tax bills

• Dec. 10: Payment due date

• Jan. 10: Final due date before penalty and interest are applied

The second half of property taxes will not be impacted by this change.

The delayed billing and collections means the county’s monthly distributions during peak collection will be impacted as well. December and January are ordinarily high-distribution months, but given the legislative change, high collection months are expected to be in January and February 2020.

Montoya said her office has met with the state departments of finance and administration, taxation and revenue, and public education, as well as the assessor’s and treasurer’s affiliate about the legislation.

“They are fully aware of the situation and stand ready to assist, if needed, to plan your budgets/debt service payments accordingly,” she continued. “We are also working with the governor’s office to propose a legislative fix during the 2020 legislative session in order to alleviate this law from negatively impacting the county distribution again in 2021 as is currently written.”

Sandoval County property owners with questions regarding tax distribution checks may contact Desiree Rivera-Lewis at 867-7615 or [email protected]. If residents have questions regarding property tax billing and payment, they can contact Jessica McParlin at 867-7582 or [email protected].