New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Secretary Rick Homans has issued an order extending the deadline for owners of subsidized affordable housing to pay the first installment of their property taxes.

Tax bills will be mailed out today. For most, the first of two payments is due no later than Dec. 10, but people who qualify for the extension will have until May 10 to make the first payment.

Homans said he extended the deadline Wednesday because a law passed last March to provide property-tax relief to these people hasn't been implemented yet by the Santa Fe County Assessor's Office, meaning some people will get property tax bills for larger amounts than they truly owe.

The law was created for people who bought homes at lower-than-market prices via subsidized housing programs. It lets those homeowners — many of whom do not own 100 percent of the equity in their homes — pay taxes based on what they actually paid instead of on the properties' market value.

Previous assessor Benito Martinez had made a practice of this during his administration. But when current assessor Domingo Martinez, no relation, took office in 2007, he said the practice wasn't legal and revalued the properties based on their market values. His action prompted the new law.

This year, property owners who protested the higher valuations were told by the Assessor's Office that the law couldn't be implemented until formal regulations had been established by the state Taxation and Revenue Department.

Homans disagreed, and issued an order in July, directing county assessors to revalue qualifying properties immediately without waiting for the regulations.

At the time, Martinez told The New Mexican that he expected to be able to revalue the properties in time for correct bills to be sent out today.

As of Friday, that still hadn't happened.

Homans said Martinez has had ample time and money to adjust the valuations — he just hasn't done so.

"There hasn't been a sense of urgency on the side of the assessor to get this done," Homans said. "And it concerns us greatly because innocent families could suffer. You have to think of the people living in those homes just eking it out who can't afford to pay these increases."

Homans said that, according to data provided by Santa Fe Community Housing Trust and Homewise, about 1,382 property owners could qualify for reduction in tax that could amount to $100- to $300-per-month differences in their mortgage payments. He said the affordable-housing mortgage agencies will help distribute letters to their clients informing them of the extension and their possible eligibility for a reduction.

He said another letter will be sent to mortgage and escrow companies by the County Treasurer's Office, advising them to delay paying the first installment of their qualifying clients' taxes until corrected bills have been sent out.

Homans said he thought the office of New Mexico House Speaker Ben Luján had committed $20,000 to helping the Santa Fe County Assessor's Office adjust eligible properties. But Martinez said money to get the extra work done was only made available in the past three weeks and he believed at least $10,000 of it had come directly from Santa Fe County's general fund.

Santa Fe County Public Information Director Stephen Ulibarri said Friday that he wouldn't be able to provide information about where the money came from and when it was made available until Monday.

Martinez said his staff has received about 300 applications for the exemption and has been working to process them. He said most of the adjustments should be done by Monday, which would allow the Treasurer's Office to begin calculating the new bills. But, Martinez said, there are still many questions about how to make the adjustments without formal regulations for guidance. One question, Martinez said, is how to handle requests for the exemption for owners of vacant land.

"I'm going to get audited on these things, and I don't want these questions to come up after the fact," Martinez said. "We want to do a good job for all of the taxpayers, not just those who have the deduction."

To qualify for the reduction, owners must have a subsidy, covenant or encumbrance that restricts the future use of the property or resale price of the property or "otherwise prohibits the owner from fully benefiting from any enhanced value of the property."

Those who believe they may be eligible should submit an Affordable Housing Valuation Adjustment Application Form to the county assessor no later than Dec. 31. Forms can be obtained at the Assessor's Office, 102 Grant Ave.

A public hearing on the first draft of formal regulations to guide implementation of the new law is set for Dec. 3. The draft regulations can be viewed on the state Taxation and Revenue Web site: www.tax.state.nm.us.

Contact Phaedra Haywood at 986-3068 or phaywood@sfnewmexican.com