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Maricopa County is located in the southwestern region of Arizona as shown in the map below with its count seat in Phoenix.
The most recent population estimate for Maricopa County in 2017 was 4,307,033, which makes it the state’s most populous county as well as the fourth-most populous in the United States. In fact, Maricopa County is almost as large as Vermont (it’s about the size of New Hampshire) and its population is greater than 23 states. Indeed, Maricopa County is the fastest-growing county in the United States since 2016. Named for the Maricopa Indians, Maricopa County has five Indian reservations including the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (which is the largest) and the Gila River Indian Community near Chandler.
More than 22 million tourists a year are drawn to Maricopa County for numerous reasons, but most especially the Desert Botanical Garden, hiking on Camelback Mountain, the world-famous Phoenix Zoo, the Wildlife Zoo, Aquarium and Safari Park, the OdySea Aquarium and Papago Park. In addition, Maricopa County is home to the Arizona Science Center, the Pueblo Grande Museum, the Phoenix Art Museum, Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino and the Heard Museum among many others. Shopping opportunities also abound in Maricopa County, the food is some of the best around and local craft beers (“so much beer!”) and wines are widely available.
More than half of Maricopa County’s budget is allocated for public safety and the judicial needs of county residents. In fact, the county has succeeded in reducing overall, violent, and property crime rates to their lowest levels in history. The county government is comprised of an elected Board of Supervisors, an appointed County Manager and more than 13,000 public service employees. The importance of Maricopa County’s operations was recently highlighted when Arizona Governor Doug Ducey proclaimed April as “County Government Month.”
301 West Jefferson Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85003
Paul D. Petersen, Maricopa County Assessor
301 West Jefferson Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85003
Monday-Friday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
| Location | Address | Telephone | Fax |
|---|---|---|---|
| County Administration Building (main office) | 301 W Jefferson Street
Phoenix, AZ 85003 |
602-506-3406 | 602-506-7620 |
| Santa Fe Freight Depot* | 501 W Jackson Street
Phoenix, AZ 85003 |
602-506-3406 | 602-506-7620 |
| Southeast Mesa Complex* | 222 E Javelina, Suite 2300
Mesa, AZ 85210 |
602-372-3731 | |
| Sun City CAN (Community Assistance Network)* | 10195 W Coggins Drive
Sun City, AZ 85351 |
623-933-7530 | |
| PORA – Sun City West | 13815 Camino Del Sol
Sun City West, AZ 85375 |
623-584-4288 |
*By appointment only
The stated mission of the Maricopa County Assessor is to “efficiently and effectively administer all laws and regulations for Maricopa County property owners so that all ad valorem property is fairly and equitably valued.” In support of this mission, the Assessor notices and administers almost 1.8 million real and personal property parcels/accounts each year with a full cash value of more than $551.7 billion in 2019. The property overseen by the County Assessor covers an enormous 9,266 square miles.
The Maricopa County Assessor’s Office consists of five divisions; the Administrative Division, the Valuation Relief Program Division, the Information Technology Division, the Property Ownership & Mapping Division, and the Appraisal Division as shown in the organizational chart below.
Source: https://mcassessor.maricopa.gov/static/imgs/org-chart-min.png
A description of each of these five divisions is provided below.
The Maricopa County Administrative Division is tasked with the provision of leadership and strategic vision in support of achieving the county’s respective departmental missions, including intergovernmental communications, human resource management, budgeting, data sales, procurement, tracking of legislative bills and special districts.
This division is comprised of three units:
(1) Personal Exemptions which oversees the Senior Valuation Protection Program as well as the Disability and Widow/Widowers property exemption programs to ensure their compliance with relevant Arizona state laws;
(2) Organizational Exemptions which oversees all historic, governmental, religious and other commercial property exemptions to ensure their compliance with relevant Arizona State law; and,
(3) Public Assistance which is responsible for the provision of customer service and assistance to Maricopa County residents.
The IT Division works with the Maricopa County’s Office of Enterprise Technology to manage all aspects of the County Assessor’s computing environment. In addition, this division develops and supports the county’s GIS systems and other computer-based applications that are used for managing spatial data. Finally, this division also appraises the value of emerging technologies and their suitability for county use.
This division is tasked with updating all real and personal property ownership and title information using a variety of reporting entities. This division also maintains Maricopa County’s geospatial parcel fabric layer and creates customized maps for its constituents.
In sum, this division has the responsibility to discover, list and value residential, commercial, agricultural real estate and personal property, as well as vacant land located anywhere within Maricopa County.
With more than 4.3 million residents, Maricopa County is the state’s largest county in terms of population and its population is larger than 23 states. Overseeing this vast amount of property is the responsibility of the Maricopa County Assessor who manages a main office and five branches. The County Assessor’s office maintains a useful and intuitive Web site that includes information about all of the services it provides, including the creation of customized GIS maps for its constituents. Finally, the county is also the home of numerous entertainment and recreational destinations, and millions of tourists make Maricopa County their vacation destination each year.