La Paz County Assessor's $15M Overvaluation To Cost School District

Published: Thursday, September 20, 2018 - 6:07pm
Updated: Thursday, September 20, 2018 - 6:36pm

A school district in western Arizona is facing a significant shortfall after the La Paz County Assessor overvalued the county by millions.

The Parker Pioneer newspaper reported that the Assessor’s Office overvalued the county by $15 million. Parker Unified School District is one of the bigger districts in La Paz County, and Assistant Superintendent Brad Sale says the mistake could cost about $80,000 in expected revenue.

"When we found out so late in the game our tax rate had already been set. So our tax rate is lower than it should be to get the entire amount that we need for or override by $81,000," Sale said.

But Sale says his district likely won’t feel as much of a pinch compared to other much smaller districts.

"The other schools in our county, they’re 100 percent local. They’re small enough to where they don’t receive state aid. This is going to have a far reaching effect for them."

Sale said schools in Salome, Bouse, and Wenden could be hard hit by the mistake.