|
Assessing Questions and Answers
What are we doing this year?
We are in the third year of a four year data verification program. What does this mean? The State of NH Assessing Standards Board recommends that every property be measured and inspected once every 10 years. Accurate data is key to equitable assessments. Data collection will continue in the Lyme Center area, the Pout Pond neighborhood and out to the reservoir Pond neighborhood.
Our assessor visits every property that sells to qualify the sale and does an interior inspection, when the property has a building(s), to verify our data. This is necessary to ensure that only arms-length transactions, with current and correct data, are used for the annual NH Department of Revenue Administration (DRA) ratio studies.
Every year our assessor visits the properties where a building permit has been issued. She also visits all properties where work begun before April 1 of the previous year was not completed by April 1. Since we have re-introduced the Inventory Form this year, the assessor will also be visiting properties where changes were reported.
Our assessor will be visiting all of the properties that have sold in the past two years to qualify the sales and do an interior inspection to verify our data. This is necessary to insure that only arms-length transactions and current and correct data are used to develop the new appraisal model, which will be used to appraise all properties in the town.
Property owners will be notified of their new assessment in July. Then you will have an opportunity to schedule a meeting with the assessor to discuss any questions or concerns that you may have.
When was the last revaluation?
The last full revaluation, when every building was measured and inspected and the values where changed was completed for April 1, 1999.
The last Analytical (Statistical) Update was done for State of NH Certification as of April 1, 2006. The NH Assessing Standards Board requires that every town update their values
to between 90 and 110% of market value once every 5 years.
Were there any properties not getting an analytical update this year?
Yes. We did not review the tax exempt properties because their valuation does not affect the tax rate. Because the commercial market remained basically level, we did not feel it was an efficient use of our time to review those values since they would not change.
What is the level of assessment for 2007? 94%
Every year the DRA performs a ratio study. They use sales from October 1, of the previous year, through September 30 of the year being analyzed. The sales are compared to the assessments to come up with a ratio. What this ratio means is that the average property is assessed for 94% of what it sold for. The 2008 ratio study will be done in November of 2008 and the results will be returned to the town in January or February of 2009.
How could you change my assessment without ever going in my house?
We have data on all properties such as square footage, number of bedrooms, number of baths, overall physical condition, land area, and neighborhoods. We analyze all the sales to determine the value of each of the component parts mentioned above. Through specialized appraisal computer software, we are able to assign values to all the various data via tables and then apply those tables to the non-sale properties in the community. For example, if we found that homes with three bedrooms were selling for a proportionally higher percentage than two bedrooms, then all three bedroom homes would have the same factor applied to it.
Why aren’t other towns updating their assessments like Lyme?
Many are. Most larger communities have been updating assessments on a regular basis. These communities usually have a full-time professional staff capable of completing this task. With the new rules being developed as a result of the state school tax, this has been paramount at the legislative level.
How will my new assessment affect my taxes?
Your property taxes are calculated by dividing the total amount of the Town, School, County and state-wide education tax to be raised by the total assessed value of all the property (less exemptions and tax exempt property) in Lyme. The result is a tax rate per $1,000 of assessed valuation. If there is no change in the amount of money that must be raised and the total assessed valuation of all property in Lyme increases by the same percentage as the assessed value of your property, your taxes would not change.
Not all types of property have increased in market value at the same rate. If your property has increased in value at a greater rate than the average of all the property in Lyme, then your share of the total amount to be raised by property taxes will increase, and if your property has increased in value at a lower rate than the average, your share will decrease.
|
