With the air getting a little cooler, the leaves changing colors and footballs flying through the air, it could only mean one thing — property tax bills will soon be arriving.

That’s right, with all the joys of fall come taxes. The Sandoval County Treasurer’s Office will mail the bills on Nov. 1. The first half-payment is due Dec. 10 and the remainder is due May 10.

In addition, the price Rio Rancho residents will have to pay for their property taxes is increasing, largely due to the 4.25 voter-imposed mill levy to pay for hospital services. On top of that, the Sandoval County Commission broke its 13-year streak of not raising the county’s portion of the mill levy. The county increased the levy from 5.368 mills to 5.809 mills. Included in the 5.809 levy is .673 mill for debt service. The county uses 5.136 mills to fund operations. This is the first time the county has increased the tax rate since 1995.

County commissioners Donnie Leonard, David Bency, Glenn Walters and Orlando Lucero set the mill rate at 34.52 for residential property and 32.9 mills for non-residential property for Rio Rancho. Commissioner Darryl Madalena was absent.

Leonard explained that the state sets the mill levy according to the budget. While Sandoval County’s mill rate increased, he said other counties had larger increases.

“Sandoval County has always been a county that has been very efficient and the employees go beyond the call of duty to operate and deliver services that the constituents need,” Leonard said. “It’s never good that we have to raise taxes. We don’t want to do it, but as the times change and we have more services and the cost of operations continue to escalate, we have been fortunate in not having to increase it since 1995.”

A Rio Rancho homeowner that has property valued at $100,000 can expect to pay $154.14 more in property taxes this year, compared to last year.

Last year, the mill levy for Rio Rancho home owners was 29.896. The tax bill for a home valued at $100,000 was $996.53. This year, the bill for a $100,000 home will be $1,150.67.

The overall millage rate depends on where you live in the county and whether you own residential or non-residential property.

Overall millage rates are approved by the New Mexico Department of Finance and ratified by the county.

Property’s tax value is one-third of its assessed value. The mill rate is applied to the taxable value and that’s how bills are calculated. A mill is one-tenth of a cent or one-thousandth of a dollar.

Of the 34.52 mills paid by homeowners, 10.635 is devoted to Rio Rancho Public Schools, 8.011 to the City of Rio Rancho, 5.809 to the county, 4.25 for hospital services, 3.046 to Central New Mexico Community College, 1.623 to Southern Sandoval County Flood Control Authority and 1.15 to the state.

Voters in Sandoval County approved a 4.25 mill property tax increase last November to help Presbyterian Healthcare Services, along with University of New Mexico, offer an expanded range of services.

That money, however, will not be used for the construction of the hospitals. The money from taxes will go to support operations and programs at the hospital that need to be subsidized, like intensive care and medical specialists.

Those contracts also must be approved by the Sandoval County Commission.

Presbyterian Hospital is expected to open its location east of Unser and north of Black Arroyo Road, in the fall of 2011.

UNM Hospital, which will be located in the City Center, does not have a start date yet.

The assessable value of residential property — any residentially zoned property with a dwelling — can only increase three percent each year, according to state law.

Rio Rancho tax bill with home value of $100,000

Taxed value is $33,333.33

34.52 mills

Multiply the taxed value ($33,333.33) by the mill rate (34.52) = Tax Bill ($1,150.67)

34.52 Mill breakdown (cost for home with value of $100,000)

10.635 ($354.41) — School

8.011 ($267) — City

5.809 ($193.63) — County

4.25 ($141.67) — Hospital

3.046 ($101.53) — CNM

1.623 ($54.10) — SSCAFCA

1.15 ($38.33) — State