Property Revaluation

Overview

A Revaluation, or Market Update, is the process of updating all property values in town to reflect their current market value. This maintains reasonable estimates of what each property could sell for, as required by law.

Revaluation Cycle

Regularly scheduled revaluations, occurring every few years, ensure that the property tax burden is spread equitably across all taxpayers. It also limits the likelihood of large or unpredictable changes in tax bills when updated values are implemented.

The most recent town-wide revaluation was performed by KRT Appraisal in 2019 and was the first since 2005. Moving forward, town-wide market update revaluations will be performed more regularly, and will be conducted in-house by the Town of Scarborough Assessing staff.

Timeline

Last Town-Wide Revaluation: April 1, 2019
Next Planned Town-Wide Revaluation: April 1, 2024
5 Year Cycle: Future revaluations are planned to occur once every 5th year, unless special circumstances necessitate otherwise. Market update revaluations will be based upon an analysis of all available information, including sales data from the preceding 2 years. This routine cycle will help to maintain a fairly apportioned property tax burden and provide predictability for taxpayers.

Resources

On December 2, 2020 the Town Assessor presented a public workshop to the Town Council explaining the plan for future market update revaluations. Please note, since this 2020 presentation the timing of the next town-wide revaluation has been postponed from 2023 until 2024. The presentation slides and a recorded video of the workshop are available at the following links:

“In-House Revaluations: Plan for Future Market Updates” Presentation Slides [PDF View/Download]

Town Council Workshop Video | December 2, 2020

Additional documents will be forthcoming, leading up to 2024 Revaluation. This will include explanations of the process, methods, and timeframe expectations.

FAQ

Does this mean my property’s assessment will only change once every 5 years?

Not necessarily. There are a number of reasons why individual properties or groups of related properties could experience a change in their assessment in any given year, whether or not there is a town-wide revaluation. Some common examples include:

New Value Created

Construction of new buildings; Renovations or additions to pre-existing buildings; Subdivisions of larger parcels into smaller lots.

Property Changes

Change in a property’s permitted use; Physical damage to a building.

New Information

Survey displaying different acreage than lot size on record or an area designated as wetlands; Review of deeds outlining an encumbrance like an easement; Discovery of errors or inconsistencies requiring correction.

Will I be given advance notice if my property’s assessment is going to change?

Every year, the Assessing office provides advanced notice via mailed letters to all owners whose property will experience an increase of more than $25,000. These notifications are usually sent in late June or early July, which provides time to review and discuss with the Assessing office before values are committed for taxes in late August.

In a revaluation year, advanced notifications of preliminary property valuations will be provided to ALL property owners. In the year leading up to the 2024 revaluation process, the Assessing office will communicate expectations for the timeframe of these notifications.

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