New Mexico property tax is assessed by county assessors, billed by county treasurers and paid to the counties, municipalities, schools and other districts that set the rates. This guide covers what a homeowner can check: how the value is set, the limit on yearly increases, the exemptions, the freeze for low-income owners aged 65 or older, how to protest a value and when bills are due.
It uses the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department, the Department of Finance and Administration, the Department of Veterans’ Services and county government pages read on 2 November 2026. Rates differ for every address, so the figures below are examples, not a bill.
Property is valued as of January 1 each year. The Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) states: "Assessed value in New Mexico is three times net taxable value, plus exemptions." So a tax rate is applied to net taxable value, which is one-third of the assessed value before exemptions. The state constitution, in the text the Taxation and Revenue Department (TRD) prints, says the percentage of value against which tax rates are assessed "shall not exceed thirty-three and one-third percent".
County assessors reappraise either once a year or once every two years. For a home that was not bought in the previous year, a one-year cycle uses the market value of the year before the current tax year, and a home bought in the previous year is valued at its market value in the year of purchase (TRD pamphlet, quoting the state regulation).
By around April 1 each year (the Taxation and Revenue Department’s wording; Santa Fe County mailed its 2026 notices on May 1, so the date varies by county) the county assessor mails a Notice of Valuation that shows the full value and the net taxable value. The net taxable value on that notice is the basis of the tax bill the county treasurer mails later in the year. Owners must also declare certain changes in the value of their property no later than the last day of February.
For residential property, the department’s printed statute (Section 7-36-21.2) provides that, for the 2001 and later tax years, the value of a property in any tax year shall not exceed the higher of 103% of the value in the prior tax year or 106.1% of the value two tax years earlier. In practice that is a rise of about 3% a year, with a two-year test that can allow slightly more after a flat year. The table is our arithmetic using the two percentages in the statute.
| Value last year | Value two years ago | 103% of last year | 106.1% of two years ago | Highest the value can be this year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $300,000 | $295,000 | $309,000 | $312,995 | $312,995 |
| $300,000 | $285,000 | $309,000 | $302,385 | $309,000 |
The limit does not apply in these cases listed in the same text: a residential property in the first tax year it is valued, physical improvements (other than solar energy systems), a change of ownership in the year before the tax year, or a change in use or zoning in the year before the tax year. After a sale, the statute says the property is valued at its current and correct value for that tax year.
The limit controls the value, not the bill. Your tax can still rise if the rates rise, or if you lose an exemption. The text we read is the version in the TRD protest pamphlet revised in April 2024. We did not find a change in a later official source, but we could not read the state legislature’s 2026 bill pages, so check the current wording with your county assessor.
Rates are expressed in mills, which is dollars per $1,000 of net taxable value. DFA reports that the state constitution limits rate totals not approved by voters to 20 mills, split by statute as 11.85 mills to counties, 7.65 to municipalities and 0.5 to school districts. A "yield control" formula may reduce a rate in response to reassessment. About half of the existing rates were approved by voters, mainly for debt on capital projects.
DFA’s 2025 Property Tax Facts publishes the weighted average residential rate in mills for each county, weighted by the taxable value of the tax districts in the county (the median across counties is 24.180 mills). Your actual rate depends on the school district, municipality and special districts where the home sits. A few counties, as DFA lists them for 2025:
| County | Residential weighted average mills, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Bernalillo | 41.004 |
| McKinley | 32.335 |
| Sandoval | 32.635 |
| Dona Ana | 29.107 |
| Santa Fe | 19.028 |
| Taos | 17.477 |
| Catron | 17.280 |
DFA calculates that obligations across all property types average 0.927% of assessed value statewide (its Table 7 divides obligations by net taxable value times three). That is an average over all property, not a homeowner’s rate.
Head-of-family exemption. A Sandoval County assessor’s flyer describes it as a $2,000 reduction of the taxable value of residential property that is the owner’s primary residence, for a New Mexico resident. DFA also refers to the state’s $2,000 head-of-household exemption. It is deducted from taxable value to get net taxable value, may be claimed only once in a tax year and in only one county, and once approved the owner does not have to reapply unless ownership changes. To qualify, apply to the county assessor no later than 30 days after the Notice of Valuation is mailed (around April 1 or later, depending on the county).
Veteran exemption. The standard exemption for veterans who own property rose from $4,000 to $10,000 under House Bill 47 (2025) from tax year 2025. DFA states that for tax year 2026 and later the $10,000 is adjusted for inflation, and we did not find the 2026 adjusted amount in a state source, so ask your assessor for the current figure. Veterans first obtain a certificate of eligibility from the New Mexico Department of Veterans’ Services and then file it with the county assessor.
Disabled veterans. The state says that from 2026 partially disabled veterans can receive a prorated exemption based on their service-connected disability rating (House Bill 47 of 2025 and House Bill 285 of 2026 are the bills it cites); before that only 100% disabled veterans qualified for a full exemption. It reports that 7,096 partially disabled veterans received the exemption from March through June 2026.
Section 7-36-21.3 limits the valuation of a single-family dwelling that is owned and occupied by a person who is 65 or older, or disabled, and whose modified gross income for the prior taxable year did not exceed the greater of $35,000 or an inflation-adjusted amount. The valuation cannot then be greater than the assessed valuation in the tax year in which the owner qualifies and files. It freezes the valuation, not the tax: a county assessor notes that it "is not a freeze on the taxes".
| Tax year | Prior-year modified gross income limit | State order |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $42,900 | PTD Order 24-36 (November 2024) |
| 2026 | $44,200 | PTD Order 25-44 (December 1, 2025) |
The department must publish the adjusted amount and give it to the county assessors by December 1 (the 2026 order is dated December 1, 2025 and the 2025 order November 26, 2024), so the 2027 order should appear by about December 1, 2026; we did not find it as of 2 November 2026. A county application form we read counts the combined income of the taxpayer, spouse and dependents.
Apply to the county assessor no later than 30 days after the Notice of Valuation is mailed. After the owner has filed proof of income eligibility for the three consecutive years following the application year, the assessor applies the limitation automatically until eligibility changes. The freeze does not apply to a change in valuation from physical improvements.
This is our own arithmetic, not a bill. We assume a home with an assessed (full) value of $300,000, so the net taxable value before exemptions is one-third, $100,000. We subtract the $2,000 head-of-family exemption (and, in the last column, a $10,000 veteran exemption, the 2025 amount) and multiply by DFA’s 2025 weighted average residential rate for the county, in mills divided by 1,000. The bills mailed this autumn use 2026 rates, which are not in DFA’s 2025 table, so treat the results as an approximation. We ignore the value cap and every other exemption or district rate, and actual rates vary by tax district within each county.
| County (2025 residential weighted average mills) | Mills | Tax with the $2,000 head-of-family exemption | Tax with head-of-family and a $10,000 veteran exemption |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bernalillo | 41.004 | $4,018.39 | $3,608.35 |
| Dona Ana | 29.107 | $2,852.49 | $2,561.42 |
| Sandoval | 32.635 | $3,198.23 | $2,871.88 |
| Santa Fe | 19.028 | $1,864.74 | $1,674.46 |
| Taos | 17.477 | $1,712.75 | $1,537.98 |
| Catron | 17.280 | $1,693.44 | $1,520.64 |
The Bernalillo result is about 1.34% of the $300,000 value, in line with DFA’s own 1.367% residential figure for that county, which is before exemptions.
An owner may protest the value or classification set by the assessor, the allocation of value, or the denial of an exemption or limitation by filing a petition with the county assessor. In the abridged statute text the department prints, the deadline is tied to April 1 of the property tax year and to 30 days after the assessor mails the Notice of Valuation, so use the deadline printed on your notice. The assessor may offer an informal conference first. If it is not resolved, the County Valuation Protests Board hears the protest; the board has three members, two residents appointed by the county commission and an appraisal officer from the state Property Tax Division, and the hearing notice is mailed at least 15 days ahead.
The assessor’s value is presumed correct, so the owner must bring evidence that it is wrong. A purchase price alone does not overcome the presumption if comparable sales show the price was not market value. A board decision can be appealed to the district court within 30 days of the board’s order.
The county treasurer mails bills in the autumn. The Taxation and Revenue Department’s important-dates list gives the same installment dates (first half November 10, second half April 10, Section 7-38-38 NMSA). County treasurers we read (Taos and Torrance) say bills are mailed around November 1, the first half is due November 10 and the second half is due April 10. In Taos County the first half becomes delinquent if not received or posted before December 10 and the second half if not received or posted by May 10, and delinquent taxes carry 1% interest and a 1% penalty, with the total penalty not to exceed 5%. Torrance County’s 2026 notice says you have 30 days from November 10, 2026 to pay without penalty and interest. Treasurers can vary in how they describe the grace period, so use the date on your own bill. DFA adds that bills unpaid for three or more years lead to the property being offered for sale by the TRD’s Delinquent Property Bureau.
The legislature’s 2026 property tax bills (for example on the valuation cap) could not be checked on its own site, so this page does not report any change to the 103% rule.