City property value nearly $7b
By ANDREW NELSON, Telegraph Staff
NASHUA - Rising real estate prices have pushed the total assessed value of the city to nearly $7 billion, according to city officials.
The value skyrocketed some 27 percent from the assessed value used to determine last year's taxes.
On Thursday, the Board of Assessors is hosting a meeting at Nashua High School North at 7 p.m. to explain the updated property assessments and their impact on taxes.
The city plans to mail notices with the new property assessments Friday, and they will be posted on the city's Web site (www.gonashua.com) by Monday.
Chief Assessor Angelo Marino said he wants homeowners to believe they are being treated fairly in the process.
Errors of fact should be dealt with immediately, while the city's process to appeal assessments takes place after the December tax bills are due, he said.
Examining data on the city's Web site will allow homeowners to compare the assessment of their property to similar properties on the same street or in the same neighborhood, Marino said.
Administrative Services Director Maureen Lemieux said an individual's tax bill would not necessarily go up because the overall value of property in Nashua increased 27 percent.
Because of the rise in property value, the tax rate is falling to around $20 per $1,000, although it will not be official until the state Department of Revenue Administration completes its work, she said. The predicted tax rate before the reassessment of property was more than $25 per $1,000.
City administrators have indicated that a soft commercial market means the tax burden will be increasing for residential property owners.
Property taxes are the method to raise revenue in New Hampshire, Lemieux said, so officials are not able to set taxes based on a homeowner's ability to pay.
Crowds filled the auditorium in City Hall in 2000, the last time a citywide property assessment update was conducted. Alderman-at-Large David Deane has been critical that so much time has gone by since the update.
Residents are "going to look at four years of assessment increases in one year," Deane said.
Smaller increases would have made some complain, but it would have been easier for people to make financial arrangements, he said. This time, it's going to financially cripple some residents, he said.
The presentation on Thursday should last about 45 minutes. Two local real estate professionals - John Doran of The Masiello Group, and Paul Yarmo of the Yarmo Co., an appraising firm - will be on hand to give their perspectives on the issue.
As property values increase, city administrators say certain residents can qualify for exemptions and credits.
Officials are working to adjust the exemptions for the upcoming tax bills, Lemieux said. Aldermen recently upped the exemptions for military veterans, and will consider raising the exemption for senior citizens.
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This story was originally published in the The Telegraph of Nashua, N.H., all rights reserved, nashuatelegraph.com.