It is the responsibility of the Assessing
Office to maintain assessed values according to just value or market value.
Continued
increases in the real estate market are indicating that this office again needs
to make value adjustments. The Maine Constitution states that “all taxes upon real and personal estate,
assessed by authority of this State, shall be apportioned and assessed equally
according to the just value thereof.”
In order to apportion the tax burden equally, the Assessor must
establish assessed valuations at just value. Just value is synonymous with
market value. - The Windham real estate market has continued to grow, and recent sale prices are quickly outpacing last year’s town-wide valuation update. Sales studies now show that residential assessments average around 88% of sales prices and prices continue to ascend. Had Windham not conducted an update last year we would likely be in the 75% range this year. There have been very few commercial sales and therefore no adjustments to commercial assessments are needed at this time.
- The school, town and county budgets have already been set. An update will NOT raise more revenue for the Town. The purpose is to value all properties by the same standard and equalize the tax burden.
- Significant changes are not expected in most tax
bills as the majority of the update will be proportionate to one another.
This means that most property valuations will be raised by a similar
amount and thus experience a tax bill increase similar to what they would
have even without the update. Exceptions include cases where a homeowner
has made property improvements or are undervalued relative to everyone
else.
- Benefits to this action include:
·
The
projected mil rate will likely be reduced;
·
Properties
that were undervalued relative to others will be brought up to pay their fair
share;
·
We
will avoid reducing the amounts for Homestead, Veteran and Blind exemptions;
·
Smaller
updates like this insulate property owners from sudden jumps in valuation;
·
Frequent
updates avoid costly one-time revaluations;
·
The
update can be prepared without significant expense because our field inspection
work is current.
Work on this project will begin immediately in order to meet the August 13, 2019 commitment date deadline.
· Veterans Exemption - A person must be a Maine
resident, 62 years or older and have served in the U.S. Armed Forces during a Federally
Recognized War Period or; be receiving 100% disability compensation for service-connected
injury. $6,000 exemption.
· Homestead Exemption - A person must be a Maine
resident and have owned and resided in the property they consider their homestead
and legal residence for at least 12 months prior to date of application. Forms
must be filed with the Assessing Office by April 1. Forms filed after April 1 of any year will apply
to the subsequent year’s tax assessment. $20,000 exemption.
· Blind Exemption - A person determined to
be legally blind.$4,000 exemption.
· Senior Property Tax Assistance –
Information is available through the Town Manager’s Office or by visiting: http://windhammaine.us/616/Senior-Property-Tax-Assistance
Current Use Programs: In the 1970's, the Constitutional Law added a current use clause which
allowed special treatment for certain property use if several criteria are met.
· Tree Growth - A parcel of land with at
least 10 contiguous forested acres which are harvested for commercial purposes.
· Farmland - Property must have a minimum of
5 contiguous acres and be used for agricultural purposes with contributing
income.
· Open Space - No minimum acreage but parcel
must be undeveloped and provide a public benefit.
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