Uncertain real estate market and pandemic put brakes on Portland revaluation
The city of Portland is postponing its property revaluation process until 2021, due to uncertainty about the real estate market and the fiscal implications of COVID-19.
“Given the unknowns with the changes the real estate market will see from the pandemic, it would not be prudent to set new values for the April 1, 2020 assessment date,” Christopher Huff, the city's tax assessor, said in a news release. “We will continue to analyze market data to see what trends emerge as this crisis continues and make necessary adjustments accordingly.”
It was to be the city’s first revaluation in over 15 years.
With skyrocketing property values in some areas of the city over this time, wide disparities have occurred between assessed values and market values, especially within the city’s peninsula neighborhoods.
Huff added, “Achieving uniform, fair and equitable property taxation is the paramount goal for our office, especially with a long overdue revaluation. However, I feel the potential impact to market values from the pandemic outweighs this concern for the coming year. We would not be doing our due diligence if we did not take into account the market changes that develop.”
The city will make any adjustments necessary and set new assessment values as of April 1, 2021, for the fiscal year 2022 tax billing cycle, he said.
The final phases of the current revaluation project were about to get underway when the pandemic hit. New value notices were scheduled to be sent to all property owners in May with informal value appeals set to commence in June. Those activities will still take place, but will occur in 2021 instead. A new timeline and schedule will be posted once these dates are determined.
The goals of a revaluation are two-fold: to set property values at 100% of their fair market value and ensure that property is assessed uniformly and equitably at the same level.
The current revaluation project began in February 2019 and was set to be concluded in August.
Tyler Technologies CLT Appraisal Services was selected last year to conduct the revaluation, in conjunction with the assessor’s office. The city expects the vendor will continue with the project through its duration next year.
Tyler (NYSE: TYL) is a Texas-based government software vendor with offices in Bangor, Falmouth and Yarmouth.
Major real estate deals have moved forward since the start of the pandemic, but the outlook is uncertain.
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments