Anyone visiting Windham Town Hall recently may have noticed that the town has a new Town Assessor. Joshua Houde was hired to fill the assessor’s position in July and began full-time work for the town in September.
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| Joshua Houde serves as Windham Town Assessor and in that role, he is responsible for the valuation of all taxable property in Windham, both real estate and personal property. COURTESY PHOTO |
He grew up in Topsham, and attended college in Ohio from 2003 to 2007, and other than that, has been a lifelong resident of Maine.
“My wife and I met in 2012 and are celebrating our 10th anniversary this month and have four daughters whom we love dearly,” says Houde. “This summer, I was seeking to make a career move that would provide for my family in terms of both finances and quality time. During the course of the town’s search for someone to fill the Assessor position, they reached out to me, knowing I have a background in real estate and management. When I saw that my background, skills, and temperament were well-suited to serve the Windham residents as Assessor, and that it also provided what I was looking for personally for my family’s rhythm and needs, I jumped at the opportunity.”
Day-to-day, Houde relies heavily on the software and mapping tools at his disposal, as well as in-person site visits.
“We have a powerful computer-assisted mass appraisal (CAMA) program called Vision that stores the property data for each parcel and allows us to compare and contrast similar properties,” he says. “The ability to run reports in Vision allows us to obtain data such as how many properties we have in the Shoreland Zone, what properties have sold on a specific street, or the total number of parcels in Windham. We also have an AXIS GIS mapping system that allows me to click on parcels in a map view to see its assessment data at a glance.”
Visiting a property in person gives Houde concrete, tangible knowledge of the factors that affect its value. 
“My responsibilities include reviewing our assessments for accuracy, responding to property owner inquiries, meeting state requirements on reporting, and providing information to other town departments as needed,” says Houde. “This fall, I have really enjoyed working with individual property owners who had questions about their assessments. By listening to their concerns, and analyzing our sales data, I was able to ensure fair assessments for our residents. For some of them, that resulted in a reduction in their assessed value. For others, it didn’t result in a reduction but did entail a clear explanation of what factors went into their assessment that made it fair.”
Houde works with a great team that includes Assistant Assessor Kara Taylor, and appraisers Patrick Mulligan and Teresa Konczal. Taylor records transfers of ownership, manages the business personal property accounts, and processes exemption applications among other things. Mulligan and Konczal do a great job keeping the property data up to date, attending final inspections, and performing site visits.
“I enjoy analyzing the data and noticing trends and patterns that I can then apply to create fair assessments,” says Houde. “I enjoy working with individual property owners to answer their questions and ensure fair assessments for their property. I enjoy visiting properties in person to understand the factors at play in their assessment. I enjoy collaborating with my assessing staff and with the other staff here at Town Hall. I appreciate that the overarching objective for my department in the end is very simple: to establish fair and equitable assessments based on market value. Achieving that sometimes feels like a puzzle or detective work, but it is very gratifying when all the pieces come into focus and I’m able to make a clear and confident assessment for a property or group of properties.”
Houde said that his previous career involved a lot of physical exercise, which he really enjoyed. He misses that but is learning to be intentional about balancing his desk work with site visits and trips to other parts of the Windham Town Hall.
As a property owner himself, Houde understands that paying taxes is not enjoyable. However, in this position, he sees all the infrastructure and important services that our taxes contribute to and is committed to achieving fair and equitable assessments for property and business owners so that the cost of town services is fairly distributed.
“I hope that, as the property owners here in Windham get to know my staff and me, they will sense our commitment and dedication to equitable assessments,” he said. “Concretely, I hope to keep our property and sales data clean and updated so that we can continue to certify an assessed-to-sales ratio of 100 percent with the state, which means that our assessments are in line with the market value here in Windham.”
Houde welcomes all property owners to contact him or his staff with questions or considerations they have concerning their assessments.
“There’s a lot that goes into the assessment, and sometimes a property owner notices a piece of data, a comparable sale, or another consideration that helps us achieve a fair determination of their assessed value,” says Houde. “I’ve really been enjoying this role and look forward to continuing to serve the people of Windham into the future.”<
“My responsibilities include reviewing our assessments for accuracy, responding to property owner inquiries, meeting state requirements on reporting, and providing information to other town departments as needed,” says Houde. “This fall, I have really enjoyed working with individual property owners who had questions about their assessments. By listening to their concerns, and analyzing our sales data, I was able to ensure fair assessments for our residents. For some of them, that resulted in a reduction in their assessed value. For others, it didn’t result in a reduction but did entail a clear explanation of what factors went into their assessment that made it fair.”
Houde works with a great team that includes Assistant Assessor Kara Taylor, and appraisers Patrick Mulligan and Teresa Konczal. Taylor records transfers of ownership, manages the business personal property accounts, and processes exemption applications among other things. Mulligan and Konczal do a great job keeping the property data up to date, attending final inspections, and performing site visits.
“I enjoy analyzing the data and noticing trends and patterns that I can then apply to create fair assessments,” says Houde. “I enjoy working with individual property owners to answer their questions and ensure fair assessments for their property. I enjoy visiting properties in person to understand the factors at play in their assessment. I enjoy collaborating with my assessing staff and with the other staff here at Town Hall. I appreciate that the overarching objective for my department in the end is very simple: to establish fair and equitable assessments based on market value. Achieving that sometimes feels like a puzzle or detective work, but it is very gratifying when all the pieces come into focus and I’m able to make a clear and confident assessment for a property or group of properties.”
Houde said that his previous career involved a lot of physical exercise, which he really enjoyed. He misses that but is learning to be intentional about balancing his desk work with site visits and trips to other parts of the Windham Town Hall.
As a property owner himself, Houde understands that paying taxes is not enjoyable. However, in this position, he sees all the infrastructure and important services that our taxes contribute to and is committed to achieving fair and equitable assessments for property and business owners so that the cost of town services is fairly distributed.
“I hope that, as the property owners here in Windham get to know my staff and me, they will sense our commitment and dedication to equitable assessments,” he said. “Concretely, I hope to keep our property and sales data clean and updated so that we can continue to certify an assessed-to-sales ratio of 100 percent with the state, which means that our assessments are in line with the market value here in Windham.”
Houde welcomes all property owners to contact him or his staff with questions or considerations they have concerning their assessments.
“There’s a lot that goes into the assessment, and sometimes a property owner notices a piece of data, a comparable sale, or another consideration that helps us achieve a fair determination of their assessed value,” says Houde. “I’ve really been enjoying this role and look forward to continuing to serve the people of Windham into the future.”<
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