New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 3 - TAXATION › Chapter 6 - PROPERTY TAXES › Part 7 - ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS › Section 3.6.7.17 - DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY FOR PROPERTY TAXATION PURPOSES

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A.
DESCRIPTION SUFFICIENTLY ADEQUATE
				AND ACCURATE TO IDENTIFY REAL PROPERTY - IMPROVEMENTS MUST BE
				DE-SCRIBED:
A description sufficiently adequate and accurate to identify
				real property is a description such that, if the description were included in a
				deed, title would pass and which identifies it sufficiently to permit it to be
				located on the ground and its boundaries determined.
B.
UNIFORM SYSTEM OF REAL PROPERTY
				DESCRIPTION TO BE USED BY THE DEPARTMENT AND ALL COUNTY ASSESSORS:
The
				department and all county assessors shall substantially comply with the current
				"New Mexico mapping manual" prepared by the division pursuant to Section
				7-35-4
				NMSA 1978. The system described in that manual replaces the "unit tax system"
				and any other system now in use in any county for the description, indexing or
				identification of real property. The director may permit, however, a reasonable
				time for replacement of these other systems. The department may insure
				substantial compliance with this subsection by installation of the required
				system by the department pursuant to Section
				7-38-10
				NMSA 1978.
C.
REAL PROPERTY
				DESCRIPTIONS RECORDED WITH THE COUNTY CLERK:
Legal descriptions or plats
				of real property filed pursuant to Section
				14-8-16
				NMSA 1978, for record in the office of the county clerk, certified as correct
				by a professional engineer or land surveyor licensed in the state and delivered
				to the county assessor are, in the case of legal descriptions, adequate
				descriptions for property taxation purposes, and in the case of plats, adequate
				documents for reference in descriptions for property taxation
				purposes.
D.
MAPS PREPARED BY
				THE STATE ENGINEER PURSUANT TO THE LAND SURVEY ACT OF 1969:
Where the
				state engineer has prepared maps containing a legal description of tracts of
				land surveyed pursuant to the Land Survey Act of 1969 and assigned each such
				tract a number, such lands for taxation shall be described by reference to the
				tract number and map number that designate the land and the date the map was
				filed and placed on record in the office of the county clerk.
E.
DESCRIPTIONS BY REFERENCE TO
				RECORDED INSTRUMENTS:
Descriptions by reference to instruments fully
				recorded with the county clerk and containing a description of the property
				sufficiently adequate and accurate to identify it, unless otherwise ordered by
				the secretary, are adequate descriptions for property taxation purposes when
				the instruments meet the conditions of this subsection. The instrument
				containing any such description by reference must show the time and place of
				filing or recordation of the instrument containing the description referred to,
				or other similar information, so that the instrument containing the description
				referred to can be located and identified.
F.
DESCRIPTION BY CO-ORDINATES:
Descriptions pursuant to the New Mexico coordinate system established by
				Sections
				47-1-49
				through
				47-1-56
				NMSA 1978 are adequate descriptions for property taxation purposes, provided
				they are otherwise adequate pursuant to Section 3.6.7.17 NMAC. In the event,
				however, there is a conflict in a legal description where state plane
				co-ordinates are used to describe any tract of land which in the same document
				is also described by reference to any subdivision, line or corner of the United
				States public land surveys, the description based on the public land survey
				will prevail.
G.
SUBDIVISION
				DESCRIPTIONS BY NUMBER AND PLAT DESIGNATION:
Description of parcels by
				number and plat designation are valid for the purpose of taxation for
				subdivisions approved pursuant to the New Mexico Subdivision Act (Sections
				47-6-1
				NMSA 1978 et seq.) provided they are otherwise adequate pursuant to these
				regulations.
H.
EFFECT OF
				SUBSECTION B OF SECTION
				7-38-9
				NMSA 1978:
The effect of Subsection B of Section
				7-38-9
				NMSA 1978 is to validate assessments, records and instruments maintained or
				issued by tax officers prior to the effective date of the Property Tax Code.
				This provision in no way authorizes the use of past practices of description,
				mapping or coding after January 1, 1975. However, certain subsections of this
				section do authorize the use of past practices of description and coding but
				only to the extent and subject to the conditions stated in those
				subsections.
I.
GEOGRAPHIC
				INFORMATION SYSTEMS:
(1) A "geographic
				information system" consists of three parts:
(a) a digitized map or set of maps for the
				county in a format conforming to standards set by the department, with smart
				points, lines and areas;
(b) a
				computerized database or databases containing required valuation information
				for each property in the county; and
(c) a set of rules relating the map features
				to each other and to the property valuation database or databases such that
				every parcel mapped is identified with a property in the database.