05/05/2011

Revaluation complete: Assessor releases new property assessments for fiscal 2012

Town Assessor Mathew Sturgis has released new property assessments for fiscal 2012. [Download spreadsheet - PDF | Excel]

Overall taxable assessments have increased approximately 24 percent, Sturgis said.

The new values are the culmination of a year's work reviewing home sales data and adjusting Town valuations to reflect most recent market values.

"Overall it was a very good project to be done to reconcile the imbalance that existed between neighborhoods," Sturgis said in a telephone interview.

Homeowners will be notified of their new assessment by letter to be mailed today and tomorrow, Sturgis said. Sturgis will meet with homeowners who have questions about their assessments beginning May 24, 2011.

This is the first townwide revaluation undertaken since fiscal year 2004, and is an attempt to correct inequities in assessment ratios across town. In an April 2010 memo to the Town Council, Sturgis wrote that properties in some areas of town were assessed at anywhere from 60 to 84 percent of market value. "These differentials are far too great," Sturgis wrote. "What this range, or variation between sections of Town indicate are that some property owners are paying more than their fair share, while others are paying less." 

As a result of the new valuation, approximately 36 percent of Cape Elizabeth homeowners will see a decrease in property taxes, 40 percent will see taxes stay the same or increase slightly, and the remaining 24-25 percent will see an increase.

Not all of the increases are due to market values, Sturgis said. Some values have increased due to individual home improvements.

In light of the new assessments, Sturgis has projected a 2012 tax rate of $15.18, which is 3.10 less than the $18.28 forecast without the update.

He also predicted that the revaluation, conducted in-house, will come in 25-30 percent under the $19,000 budgeted. The revaluation included reviewing data from 300-350 property sales over the last year.

The online assessor's database is expected to be updated with the new assessments by the close of business today, May 5, 2011