CALAIS – A town-wide reappraisal process began last month in Calais, with property owners receiving a postcard in the mail to let them know when the reappraisal team would be coming to their property.
Each property will be visited and inspected by representatives from the New England Municipal Resource Center (NEMRC), the town’s reappraisal firm. Property values will then be recalculated based on current market value.
Reappraisals are required to equalize property values throughout Vermont, which is necessary for the state Property Valuation and Review Tax Department to fairly set the education tax rates for all municipalities.
The reappraisal team collects physical characteristics of each property that include the square footage of buildings, land size, numbers of bedrooms, numbers of bathrooms and the quality and quantity of amenities.
Assessors will be making their way through town, visiting every parcel, verifying measurements of buildings, taking a photo of the front of each building and correcting property data when needed. Data collectors may also ask questions about the property as it relates to property value. In addition, the quality of materials in the interior, as well as the condition of the interior predicts the amount of depreciation to apply.
This reappraisal process will not affect 2025 property taxes as it will not be completed before 2025 property taxes are calculated.
Homeowners are not required to permit the reappraisal team to enter their home. Since the sole purpose is to collect the correct data to assist in providing a fair and equitable value of the property, a number of additional questions could be asked if an assessor is not granted entrance.
At the end of the reappraisal process there is an opportunity to challenge the new assessed value.
Each property owner will be given a personal code that can be entered at nemrc.info/Calais following the visit and will give access to data collected on the property. An email address will be provided for messaging NEMRC to advise them of any inaccurate data found there.
Many factors are involved in how a change in a property’s value will affect the taxes assessed on it. Taxes are determined by dividing the total town budget, as approved by voters at town meeting, by the total assessed value of all town properties, the grand list. The grand list will change in the wake of the reassessment, so it is likely that most or all town property values increase. If there were no change in the town budget and a property’s value increases in exact proportion to the total valuation of all properties, its taxes wild not change. If a property’s value increases more as a percentage than the town average, its taxes will increase, and if the property value increases less than the average as a percentage, its taxes will go down (assuming no change in the town budget).
At the end of the reappraisal process, the town will share information about attending hearings for property owners to challenge the new property values.
Contact the town office at [email protected] or (802) 456-8720 with additional questions or concerns.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
