Maricopa County, which includes the city of Phoenix, has had a huge increase in property values over the past few years. The local government has recently hired a Public Relations firm to explain the  assessment changes of the property values, and got the word out that increasing property values do not automatically mean that property taxes will increase proportionally.

 Included with the more than 1.3 million valuation notices that started appearing in mail boxes Tuesday is an insert with a letter from county Assessor Keith Russell that offers reassuring words at a time when values are soaring and higher tax bills are on the horizon: Property owners live “in a hot real estate market,” Russell says, and the increased values mean “that your property has more value and that, quite possibly, the equity in your property has increased significantly.”

What about a higher property tax?

 An increase in your property value may not necessarily mean an increase in your tax bill,” Russell said. Not necessarily? Yes. Very likely? Also true.

The insert is the handiwork of Phoenix public relations firm Guerra DeBerry Coody, which the county is paying $35,000 to $40,000 to handle the informational campaign that goes along with the new property valuations. Property owners will receive tax bills for the assessments in fall 2007.

“We just felt like we needed to get a little bit of advice,” Russell said. “Quite frankly, we’re assessors. We’re number crunchers. . . . The bottom line is we’re facing a situation where I think it absolutely made sense to hire someone to help us explain this to the public.”

But critics charge that the county is using the PR firm to help gloss over the downside of rapidly climbing property values: It’s likely property taxes are headed up, as well. via  The Arizona Republic