ROCKINGHAM — A town-wide property value reappraisal, conducted roughly every 10 years or as the state mandates, is scheduled to begin in the Village of Bellows Falls in July.
The Vermont Department of Taxes monitors towns' property assessments annually by comparing them to real estate sales. Those statistics show how closely assessments match market sales by a measure called the Common Level of Appraisal, or CLA.
The reappraisal is considered successful if these measurements come back within the acceptable range of 20 percent. When either of those exceeds 20 percent, the town is mandated to undertake a reappraisal.
“The good news is that we're getting a head start, as the reappraisal was not mandated by the state,” Camilla Roberts, chairwoman of the Listers, told The Commons. “The real estate sale prices compared to listed values are still within an acceptable range.”
Listers went before the Selectboard in April and secured approval to hire a part-time data collector to help with the work.
Roberts estimated that the job could take two years or more. “We have one (Lister) who can work two mornings a week,” at this point, she said.
An additional part-time data collector seemed appropriate, and they hired David Gould, a former Lister who has the commensurate knowledge.
“The data collector will be hired part-time, seasonally, over the years it takes to complete the data collection phase,” Roberts told The Commons in an email, “in a range of $13 to $14 per hour, commensurate with experience.”
The wages will be applied to the Reappraisal Reserve account, and the projected income available in 2016 will be approximately $172,000, having accrued $111,733 “and change,” Roberts noted.
'Values starting to wander'
Roberts said Listers are not seeing a wide divergence between the values, but “they are starting to wander, and we want to take our time to do a good job. That's why we are starting down the road now.”
She added that “A lot of the conditions of buildings have really declined or changed due to lack of maintenance or renovations,” resulting in a real difference in values, so the data is getting old and it's time to go through and bring it up to date.”
Roberts plans to explain all this to the public, and field questions, on Wednesday, June 4, at 7 p.m. in Town Hall's lower theater.
She told The Commons the municipal tax rate is calculated by dividing the amount of revenue to be raised - the budget set by the Selectboard - by the grand list, or total of all property values per $100 of value. The tax rate is then applied to individual property value, resulting in a tax bill.
Roberts added that the education tax rate is “essentially the same calculation, but is complicated by Act 60/68.”
According to officials, there is no need to hire appraisers from out of town, as local listers are qualified to do the work.
“We have gained considerable training and experience, and knowledge about the properties in general. We are confident that we can accomplish a successful reappraisal,” the town's website notes in its frequently-asked-questions section.
Roberts said she expects to organize the project such that two teams of two people will begin showing up at residences, identify themselves, then be on the property for 15 to 20 minutes to look at the exterior of the structure.
Listers will only conduct interior inspections - from the basement to the attic, counting rooms along the way - when an authorized adult is present.
The first inspections will be conducted in July in the Village of Bellows Falls and continue in summer and fall through the Village of Bellows Falls. Inspections are to be suspended midwinter, and will resume in spring 2015, heading into rural Rockingham.
Listers are scheduled to inspect commercial and industrial properties in the winter of 2016.
Roberts said that following the reappraisal, a tax bill based on the new assessment will go out in July, and that figures are “impossible to predict” until the process is completed.
She explained that although reappraisal will update values, the tax rate depends on how much the town raises from the overall grand list - all property values combined.