New Mexico Statutes
Article 38 - Administration and Enforcement of Property Taxes
Section 7-38-78 - Action by property owner in district court to change property tax schedule.

A. After the delivery of the property tax schedule to the county treasurer for a particular tax year, a property owner may bring an action in the district court requesting a change in the property tax schedule in connection with any property listed on the schedule for property taxation in which the owner claims an interest. The action shall be brought in the district court for the county for which the property tax schedule in question was prepared.
B. Actions brought under this section may not directly challenge the value, classification, allocations of value determined for property taxation purposes, denial of any exemption claimed or method used to determine the valuation for the property subject to property taxation. Actions brought under this section shall be founded on one or more of the following grounds:
(1) errors in the name or address of the property owner or other person shown on the schedule;
(2) errors in the description of the property for property taxation purposes, even if the correction results in a change in the amount shown on the schedule as taxes due;
(3) errors in the computation of taxes;
(4) errors in the property tax schedule relating to the payment or nonpayment of taxes;
(5) multiple valuations for property taxation purposes for a single tax year of the same property on the property tax schedule; or
(6) errors in the rate of tax set for any governmental unit in which the owner's property is located.
C. Actions brought under this section shall name the county treasurer as defendant. An action brought under Paragraph (6) of Subsection B of this section, shall also name the secretary of finance and administration as a defendant.
History: 1953 Comp., § 72-31-78, enacted by Laws 1973, ch. 258, § 118; 1974, ch. 92, § 28; 1981, ch. 37, § 80; 2015, ch. 39, § 2.
The 2015 amendment, effective June 19, 2015, amended the grounds for which a property owner may request a change to a property tax schedule; in the introductory paragraph of Subsection B, after "purposes", deleted "or", after "claimed", deleted "and must" and added "or method used to determine the valuation for the property subject to property taxation. Actions brought under this section shall"; in Paragraph (2) of Subsection B, after "purposes", added "even if the correction results in a change in the amount shown on the schedule as taxes due"; and in Subsection C, after "defendant.", deleted "and, if the" and added "An", and after "action", deleted "is".
Applicability. — Laws 2015, ch. 39, § 3 provided that the provisions of Laws 2015, ch. 39, § 2 apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2016.
General statute of limitations applicable. — Because this section does not contain a time limit for filing the request for a change in the property tax schedule, the general statute of limitations of four years pursuant to Section 37-1-4 NMSA 1978 applies. Fed. Express Corp. v. Abeyta, 2004-NMCA-011, 135 N.M. 37, 84 P.3d 85, cert. granted, 2004-NMCERT-001, 135 N.M. 160, 85 P.3d 802.
When taxpayer makes computational errors in documents submitted to enable the taxing authorities to determine valuation, it is a case of error in valuation, and not computation, and therefore the sixty-day limit applies. Fed. Express Corp. v. Abeyta, 2004-NMCA-011, 135 N.M. 37, 84 P.3d 85, cert. granted, 2004-NMCERT-001, 135 N.M. 160, 85 P.3d 802.
Because taxpayer's claim was for refund based on incorrect allocation of the value of its property for tax purposes, its remedy was pursuant to Section 7-38-40 NMSA 1978, not this section. Fed. Express Corp. v. Abeyta, 2004-NMCA-011, 135 N.M. 37, 84 P.3d 85, cert. granted, 2004-NMCERT-001, 135 N.M. 160, 85 P.3d 802.
Authorized district court action limited to changes in property tax schedule and does not apply to refunds. Lovelace Ctr. for Health Sciences v. Beach, 1980-NMCA-004, 93 N.M. 793, 606 P.2d 203.

Structure New Mexico Statutes