Meredith Revaluation

feb · 08-03-2006, 07:11 AM

Let me be the first to say, "Whoa!!!!". Just received my new assessment, up 90%. I'm concerned about the accuracy of the appraisers though. Mine is a little 1000 sq/ft 50 year old camp and they said I had 1.5 baths. I'm not sure how they missed that. I only have 1 bathroom, and you can see every room when standing in any other room so I don't have a 1/2 bath hiding anyplace. Kind of sloppy if you ask me. I'll appeal just to have that 1/2 bath off but I encourage all of you in Meredith to go on-line and check to see what they think is in your house.

mcdude · 08-03-2006, 10:32 AM

Here's the article from the Laconia Citizen

Quote:

As of Wednesday, Fields said that 40 property owners have already requested informal hearings to discuss their property values.
Fields said that while the current values are preliminary, he does not expect the value to change much after the final hearings are completed.

Here's the link to the Vision Appraisal website where you can look up your individual property.

Vision Appraisal

and while we're at it....

The Town of Meredith Website

fatlazyless · 08-09-2006, 08:27 AM

The new Meredith assessment is definately from the Dept. of Hard-To-Believe. My two-bedroom kozy-kottage went from a $401k to an 801k in one year. I thought that was only possible in the stock market with a stock like rev and not in residential waterfront. Nobody is going to spend that type of money on a tiny 1/4 acre lot with 60' wf and a semi-winterized, 50 year old mongrol cottage with no foundation, no matter how nice the view, duh?

I figure my prop tax will go from $6500. up to 8000., or 1% of the assessment which seems to be the general New Hampshire rule of thumb, one percent.

I also figure I'll join the growing number of pickup trucks out there which sport the bumper sticker, "Ax the View Tax!." See you at the Wal-Mart!

jimbob1603 · 08-09-2006, 12:34 PM

I'm in Alton.

Does any one here have any concerns that water front/view property valuations might be perhaps a little on the high side for out-of-staters and, conversly, perhaps a little on the low side for full-time residents?

I can't get this out of my head ever since I visited the town hall and looked up several specific properties (of which I have intimate knowledge, inside & out) of out-of-staters and full-time residents. In summary, based on my limited research, it looks like out-of-staters don't receive the same discount as full-time residents; when it comes to property assessment.

"Everybody pays their fair share. Its just that some are more fair than others."

I'm reasonably sure I"m being paranoid & its all in my head. But I'm still curious if others are suffering from the same malady as I.

jeffk · 08-09-2006, 04:13 PM

I may simply be that the assessors were able to get in to the full time residents property and therefore get a more accurate review? I know when they did Moultonboro they assessed my unheated porches as living area. I wasn't going to be bothered trying to sync up to let them in so they made a guess. I simply corrected their information and my assessment was lowered.

One thing about not letting the assessors in; they can be wrong in your favor or against your favor. If its in your favor I'll bet not too many people bother to "fix" the error. If its against you, we all squeal pretty loudly.

To be honest, I've never understood the confusion around the assessment process. They should just list the various features of your house and land including the square footage. There are some general evaluations such as the condition of the house. Once the list is done, its feed into a computer with the relevant numbers and out pops the assessment. If the list if correct, the assessment should be too. It seems to me that most of the items on the list are pretty straight forward. A 12 x 12 room is 144 sq feet. How hard is that?

The valuation is not meant to be in lockstep with the retail value of the property although it should be reasonably close. It is more important in comparing similar pieces of property. Again, if the list of features is correct the computer will spit out the right valuation.

I think the most confusion comes in around the magic numbers assigned to things like shorefront value and improvements that evoke a special tax. There's no doubt its more valuable but HOW much more at any given point in time is a real debate. If all shorefront owners are treated alike I guess that's about the best you're going to do.

fatlazyless · 08-10-2006, 03:11 AM

Maybe this is apples to oranges, comparing the value of my quarter acre waterfront lot to the one acre lot of the Inn at Bay Point. If you go to www.visionappraisal.com, find Meredith, and enter 1 NH Route 25, you get the Inn at Bay Point that is located at the intersection of Routes 25 and 3 at the top of Meredith Bay which is built on a one acre lot.

My quarter acre residential waterfront lot is appraised for about $725,000, and the hotel's commercial one acre lot which has much more water frontage and road frontage at the busy intersection is appraised for $1,035,800. How can that be? Does this seem fair?

fpartri497 · 08-10-2006, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

Maybe this is apples to oranges, comparing the value of my quarter acre waterfront lot to the one acre lot of the Inn at Bay Point. If you go to www.visionappraisal.com, find Meredith, and enter 1 NH Route 25, you get the Inn at Bay Point that is located at the intersection of Routes 25 and 3 at the top of Meredith Bay which is built on a one acre lot.

My quarter acre residential waterfront lot is appraised for about $725,000, and the hotel's commercial one acre lot which has much more water frontage and road frontage at the busy intersection is appraised for $1,035,800. How can that be? Does this seem fair?

FLL how much does Walmart pay?

Gatto Nero · 09-08-2006, 01:07 PM

I just came across this article in today's Citizen and I was wondering if somebody smarter than me could help me figure out how the actual tax rate might be estimated in advance.

http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll...238/-1/CITIZEN

According to the article by Erin Plummer "The town's property values have increased by 63 percent, according to assessors, but that doesn't mean residents will see tax increases......

....The increase in the town's overall valuation may mean tax increases or decreases, depending on the increased value of each property. If a property's value increased by more than 63 percent, Commerford said an increase in taxes can be expected, while properties whose value increased by less than 63 percent or did not increase at all will likely see no change and the rate may even go down."

If what the article says is true, and Meredith doesn't vote to increase taxes, then is it safe to assume we could take the existing tax rate and reduce it by 63% to come up with an approximated new rate?

My last tax bill shows a rate per thousand of 16.26. Using the math above I come up with a new rate of 6.02 (16.26 x .37 = 6.0162), which would then be applied to the newly assed value. I am on the right track here or is this way to simple to be even close?

ossipeeboater · 09-08-2006, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gatto Nero

I just came across this article in today's Citizen and I was wondering if somebody smarter than me could help me figure out how the actual tax rate might be estimated in advance.

http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll...238/-1/CITIZEN

According to the article by Erin Plummer "The town's property values have increased by 63 percent, according to assessors, but that doesn't mean residents will see tax increases......

....The increase in the town's overall valuation may mean tax increases or decreases, depending on the increased value of each property. If a property's value increased by more than 63 percent, Commerford said an increase in taxes can be expected, while properties whose value increased by less than 63 percent or did not increase at all will likely see no change and the rate may even go down."

If what the article says is true, and Meredith doesn't vote to increase taxes, then is it safe to assume we could take the existing tax rate and reduce it by 63% to come up with an approximated new rate?

My last tax bill shows a rate per thousand of 16.26. Using the math above I come up with a new rate of 6.02 (16.26 x .37 = 6.0162), which would then be applied to the newly assed value. I am on the right track here or is this way to simple to be even close?

a house that previously was values at 100,000 had a tax bill of $1626. your house value goes up 63% to 163,000 and your taxes remain at $1626 so the effective rate is 10.03.

Gatto Nero · 09-08-2006, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ossipeeboater

a house that previously was values at 100,000 had a tax bill of $1626. your house value goes up 63% to 163,000 and your taxes remain at $1626 so the effective rate is 10.03.

So following that logic if my house only went up 50% to 150,000 then my taxes would go down to $1504, correct?

Puck · 09-08-2006, 07:50 PM

on an island...no electricity...no bridge...up 300%...ouch. The assessor's explanation..."all that matters is that you have frontage, all frontage is taxed equal, Island or not."

Gilligan · 09-08-2006, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gatto Nero

So following that logic if my house only went up 50% to 150,000 then my taxes would go down to $1504, correct?

Your logic must be faulty. Property taxes NEVER go down !

ossipeeboater · 09-12-2006, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gatto Nero

So following that logic if my house only went up 50% to 150,000 then my taxes would go down to $1504, correct?

that very well may be true that it would slightly decrease if town spending doesn't go up which we all know rarely happens.

Gatto Nero · 11-17-2006, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gilligan

Your logic must be faulty. Property taxes NEVER go down !

You were right. My logic was faulty. A 63 percent rise in the town's net assessed valuation has resulted in the tax rate dropping around 34 percent. So, big surprise, I'll be paying more this year....again.

http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll...-1/citizen0103

ladybug · 11-20-2006, 05:51 PM

I just read the tax rate in Meredith has been decreased to $10.74 per $1000. It was $16.25.

Pepper · 11-20-2006, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ladybug

I just read the tax rate in Meredith has been decreased to $10.74 per $1000. It was $16.25.

Although the rate per 1000 has been decreased, I'll bet there are very few tax bills that have decreased in total tax. The decrease is merely a byproduct of the re-evaluation ~~~ higher property values = lower cost per 1000 to generate the same revenue.

08-03-2006, 07:11 AM	#1
feb Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Meredith (Winnisquam) & Nashua, NH Posts: 209 Thanks: 25 Thanked 20 Times in 17 Posts	Meredith Revaluation Let me be the first to say, "Whoa!!!!". Just received my new assessment, up 90%. I'm concerned about the accuracy of the appraisers though. Mine is a little 1000 sq/ft 50 year old camp and they said I had 1.5 baths. I'm not sure how they missed that. I only have 1 bathroom, and you can see every room when standing in any other room so I don't have a 1/2 bath hiding anyplace. Kind of sloppy if you ask me. I'll appeal just to have that 1/2 bath off but I encourage all of you in Meredith to go on-line and check to see what they think is in your house.

08-09-2006, 08:27 AM	#3
fatlazyless Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,528 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 296 Thanked 957 Times in 698 Posts	.....wonkers! The new Meredith assessment is definately from the Dept. of Hard-To-Believe. My two-bedroom kozy-kottage went from a $401k to an 801k in one year. I thought that was only possible in the stock market with a stock like rev and not in residential waterfront. Nobody is going to spend that type of money on a tiny 1/4 acre lot with 60' wf and a semi-winterized, 50 year old mongrol cottage with no foundation, no matter how nice the view, duh? I figure my prop tax will go from $6500. up to 8000., or 1% of the assessment which seems to be the general New Hampshire rule of thumb, one percent. I also figure I'll join the growing number of pickup trucks out there which sport the bumper sticker, "Ax the View Tax!." See you at the Wal-Mart!

08-09-2006, 12:34 PM	#4
jimbob1603 Senior Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 71 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Fear Not The Tax Man I'm in Alton. Does any one here have any concerns that water front/view property valuations might be perhaps a little on the high side for out-of-staters and, conversly, perhaps a little on the low side for full-time residents? I can't get this out of my head ever since I visited the town hall and looked up several specific properties (of which I have intimate knowledge, inside & out) of out-of-staters and full-time residents. In summary, based on my limited research, it looks like out-of-staters don't receive the same discount as full-time residents; when it comes to property assessment. "Everybody pays their fair share. Its just that some are more fair than others." I'm reasonably sure I"m being paranoid & its all in my head. But I'm still curious if others are suffering from the same malady as I.

08-09-2006, 04:13 PM	#5
jeffk Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Center Harbor Posts: 1,130 Thanks: 201 Thanked 421 Times in 239 Posts	Full time residents home to let the assessor in? I may simply be that the assessors were able to get in to the full time residents property and therefore get a more accurate review? I know when they did Moultonboro they assessed my unheated porches as living area. I wasn't going to be bothered trying to sync up to let them in so they made a guess. I simply corrected their information and my assessment was lowered. One thing about not letting the assessors in; they can be wrong in your favor or against your favor. If its in your favor I'll bet not too many people bother to "fix" the error. If its against you, we all squeal pretty loudly. To be honest, I've never understood the confusion around the assessment process. They should just list the various features of your house and land including the square footage. There are some general evaluations such as the condition of the house. Once the list is done, its feed into a computer with the relevant numbers and out pops the assessment. If the list if correct, the assessment should be too. It seems to me that most of the items on the list are pretty straight forward. A 12 x 12 room is 144 sq feet. How hard is that? The valuation is not meant to be in lockstep with the retail value of the property although it should be reasonably close. It is more important in comparing similar pieces of property. Again, if the list of features is correct the computer will spit out the right valuation. I think the most confusion comes in around the magic numbers assigned to things like shorefront value and improvements that evoke a special tax. There's no doubt its more valuable but HOW much more at any given point in time is a real debate. If all shorefront owners are treated alike I guess that's about the best you're going to do.

08-10-2006, 03:11 AM	#6
fatlazyless Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 8,528 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 296 Thanked 957 Times in 698 Posts	....Inn at Bay Point! Maybe this is apples to oranges, comparing the value of my quarter acre waterfront lot to the one acre lot of the Inn at Bay Point. If you go to www.visionappraisal.com, find Meredith, and enter 1 NH Route 25, you get the Inn at Bay Point that is located at the intersection of Routes 25 and 3 at the top of Meredith Bay which is built on a one acre lot. My quarter acre residential waterfront lot is appraised for about $725,000, and the hotel's commercial one acre lot which has much more water frontage and road frontage at the busy intersection is appraised for $1,035,800. How can that be? Does this seem fair?

09-08-2006, 01:07 PM	#8
Gatto Nero Senior Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Isola Gatto Nero Posts: 696 Thanks: 162 Thanked 263 Times in 81 Posts	Meredith property valuations increase 63 percent I just came across this article in today's Citizen and I was wondering if somebody smarter than me could help me figure out how the actual tax rate might be estimated in advance. http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll...238/-1/CITIZEN According to the article by Erin Plummer "The town's property values have increased by 63 percent, according to assessors, but that doesn't mean residents will see tax increases...... ....The increase in the town's overall valuation may mean tax increases or decreases, depending on the increased value of each property. If a property's value increased by more than 63 percent, Commerford said an increase in taxes can be expected, while properties whose value increased by less than 63 percent or did not increase at all will likely see no change and the rate may even go down." If what the article says is true, and Meredith doesn't vote to increase taxes, then is it safe to assume we could take the existing tax rate and reduce it by 63% to come up with an approximated new rate? My last tax bill shows a rate per thousand of 16.26. Using the math above I come up with a new rate of 6.02 (16.26 x .37 = 6.0162), which would then be applied to the newly assed value. I am on the right track here or is this way to simple to be even close? __________________ La vita è buona su Isola Gatto Nero

09-08-2006, 07:50 PM	#11
Puck Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Central NH Posts: 89 Thanks: 0 Thanked 68 Times in 18 Posts	on an island...no electricity...no bridge...up 300%...ouch. The assessor's explanation..."all that matters is that you have frontage, all frontage is taxed equal, Island or not."

11-20-2006, 05:51 PM	#15
ladybug Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 15 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I just read the tax rate in Meredith has been decreased to $10.74 per $1000. It was $16.25.