New Alton Assessments

IslandRadio · 08-11-2010, 04:59 PM

Wow, just got the new proposed assessment for the island property.

The assessment is down about 7% from last year..... wonder of the tax BILL will drop 7%

That remains to be seen !

I don't have the land/building breakdown, so I don't know if the building was "depreciated", or if the actual valuation of the land changed.

We'll see !

Regards,

Steve

Argie's Wife · 08-11-2010, 05:05 PM

Taxes went up very little last year. The town's budget was level-funded and the school's budget was BELOW the previous year's budget. I'd wager both groups are going to try to do the same; it sure would beat being in a default budget. The bond on the high school is almost paid off, too.

My assessment went up just a little bit - less than $2,000. Not a biggie.

2008.......2009
Town:........$3.00 ........$3.00
School:......$4.89 ........$5.19
State:........$2.14........ $2.28
County:......$1.27........$1.36
TOTAL....$11.30......$11.83

Here's the rates for some other towns around us:

Pittsfield 25.78
Farmington 19.73
Barnstead 18.14
Laconia 18.04
Moultonborough 7.70
Meredith 12.14
Hampton Falls 19.27
Wolfeboro 10.61
Tilton 19.25
Alton 11.83
New Durham 20.24
Ossipee 13.90
Belmont 19.69
Gilmanton 20.98

Slickcraft · 08-11-2010, 05:29 PM

Alton has a full time assessor who makes relatively minor adjustments every year to keep the whole town at 100% valuation as the market moves up and down. The adjustments are made based on the prior 12 to 18 months of sales data. Normally no big jumps, no big surprises.

As for your tax bill in actual $$, if your assessment went up or down about the same as the town average change and if the amount to be raised by taxes is about the same as last year then you tax bill will be about the same. It is only when your assessment goes up or down more than the average or the approved budgets are way up or down that you will see a big change in you actual bill.

RLW · 08-11-2010, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IslandRadio

Wow, just got the new proposed assessment for the island property.
The assessment is down about 7% from last year..... wonder of the tax BILL will drop 7%

That remains to be seen !
I don't have the land/building breakdown, so I don't know if the building was "depreciated", or if the actual valuation of the land changed.
We'll see !
Regards,
Steve

for the town and those that got their assessment lowered a bit. Now hope the town will keep the tax rate about the same.

Irrigation Guy · 08-11-2010, 06:59 PM

If it was 7% across the board cut in assessments then there would likely be a 7% increase in the rate unless the town have been cutting the budget by 7% too.

upthesaukee · 08-11-2010, 09:26 PM

As we were talking, we were all in the agreement that it would be nice that if our assessed value went down by $20, 000, then our tax bill would go down by $236.60.
However, in a level funded society, that money will have to be replaced, and that will be by an appropriate rise in the tax rate.
I have not spent my tax savings, and probably will not be able to.

AC2717 · 08-12-2010, 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LocalRealtor

If it was 7% across the board cut in assessments then there would likely be a 7% increase in the rate unless the town have been cutting the budget by 7% too.

I would like to wager that the rate will go up by at least 7.5% maybe up to 10%

Any takers

Argie's Wife · 08-12-2010, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AC2717

I would like to wager that the rate will go up by at least 7.5% maybe up to 10%

Any takers

Maybe.

But we'll still have it a lot better than many of the towns around us. The current rate is $11.83, so a 10% increase would bring us up to $13.01. Believe me when I say I don't want to see a tax increase but again, it's still better than what Barnstead, Pittsfield, or New Durham have.

If the schools and town both present a level-funded budget for the next warrant article, we will be in good shape. There's going to be a special meeting for the two schools' teachers' contracts but there won't be a tax impact if those two contracts pass (they'd add up to less than $70K together if they pass - both are just one year contracts). I'm not sure what warrant articles will be on the ballot this next year for the town, but I expect it will be pretty conservative.

The new tax rate will be set in September/October.

AC2717 · 08-12-2010, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Argie's Wife

Maybe.

But we'll still have it a lot better than many of the towns around us. The current rate is $11.83, so a 10% increase would bring us up to $13.01. Believe me when I say I don't want to see a tax increase but again, it's still better than what Barnstead, Pittsfield, or New Durham have.

If the schools and town both present a level-funded budget for the next warrant article, we will be in good shape. There's going to be a special meeting for the two schools' teachers' contracts but there won't be a tax impact if those two contracts pass (they'd add up to less than $70K together if they pass - both are just one year contracts). I'm not sure what warrant articles will be on the ballot this next year for the town, but I expect it will be pretty conservative.

The new tax rate will be set in September/October.

You guys are better off down there, well here's hoping to Alton Continues to be a benchmark and example to other towns in the area

nj2nh · 08-14-2010, 11:01 PM

In my vast experience down here in NJ (second only to MA for tax woes), when the property values go down and the properties are reassessed accordingly, the tax rate goes up to make up the difference. Unfortunately, your property might be worth less, but the cost to the town goes up and up and up and . . . .

AC2717 · 08-15-2010, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nj2nh

In my vast experience down here in NJ (second only to MA for tax woes), when the property values go down and the properties are reassessed accordingly, the tax rate goes up to make up the difference. Unfortunately, your property might be worth less, but the cost to the town goes up and up and up and . . . .

Have to say
a lot of states have passed MA from days of old for taxes, some by far
In my experience NJ is way over the top
So isn't CT

Rattlesnake Guy · 08-16-2010, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AC2717

I would like to wager that the rate will go up by at least 7.5% maybe up to 10%

Any takers

Sure hope not, my assessment went up 20%.

IslandRadio · 08-16-2010, 10:12 PM

It's very interesting.... for our place, the building went *up* in value slightly, and the lot went down slightly. Go figure that ! The building hasn't changed a BIT - nor has the lot!

But, others structures a few houses away went down a bit - others went up.

There have been 3 actual sales on our side (West side) of the peninsula within the past 12 months, so the assessors have something to go by.. Everything that was for sale on that part of the island has sold.

The first one of that group sold for $300,000. Simple cottage, 1.5 story, unfinished inside, new-ish septic (about 5 years, maybe a little less); reasonable dock, etc...100 feet of frontage.

The next one sold for $450,000. The house was not huge (by no means is it small - 1bout 1200 square feet of living space), and is *very* nicely done, inside and out. Perfect, really - needed nothing - a turn-key - move right in. Good dock, new-ish septic there, too. A couple of out-buildings. 100 feet of frontage. That assessment went up by about 20k - both land and buildings were increased.

The last one was 324,000 but the house is very much in need of major work. Very good dock and deck, new-ish septic (3br, which is nice)..100 feet of frontage there too.

So, the Alton assessors have some comps to work with, but they are all over the map!

Slickcraft · 08-17-2010, 06:00 AM

When the assessor looks at sales over the past 12 - 18 months they compare the sale price vs assessed value for each individual property and compute the difference ($S - $A).

Then they look at all such sales in a class, say all island property sales, and compute the average difference between sales price and assessed value. This average difference is used in adjusting a class of properties up or down in assessment.

In Alton they are also visiting each property (a once in 5 or 10 years look) to measure and look at quality and to correct any errors so this will result is some up or down movement in individual properties.

Formula260SS · 08-17-2010, 06:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rattlesnake Guy

Sure hope not, my assessment went up 20%.

My assessment on the Island went up about 20% as well.

tis · 08-17-2010, 06:30 AM

From what I have heard it sounds like Wolfeboro's new assessments are similar. The waterfront went way up and off water went down.

08-11-2010, 04:59 PM	#1
IslandRadio Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Mirror Lake - Full time resident Posts: 398 Thanks: 70 Thanked 156 Times in 61 Posts	New Alton Assessments Wow, just got the new proposed assessment for the island property. The assessment is down about 7% from last year..... wonder of the tax BILL will drop 7% That remains to be seen ! I don't have the land/building breakdown, so I don't know if the building was "depreciated", or if the actual valuation of the land changed. We'll see ! Regards, Steve

08-11-2010, 09:26 PM	#6
upthesaukee Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Alton Bay Posts: 5,596 Blog Entries: 2 Thanks: 2,449 Thanked 1,978 Times in 1,079 Posts	yup, topic of conversation last night. As we were talking, we were all in the agreement that it would be nice that if our assessed value went down by $20, 000, then our tax bill would go down by $236.60. However, in a level funded society, that money will have to be replaced, and that will be by an appropriate rise in the tax rate. I have not spent my tax savings, and probably will not be able to. __________________ I Live Here... I am always UPTHESAUKEE !!!!

08-14-2010, 11:01 PM	#10
nj2nh Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: NJ Posts: 527 Thanks: 75 Thanked 46 Times in 26 Posts	In my vast experience down here in NJ (second only to MA for tax woes), when the property values go down and the properties are reassessed accordingly, the tax rate goes up to make up the difference. Unfortunately, your property might be worth less, but the cost to the town goes up and up and up and . . . . __________________

08-11-2010, 05:05 PM	#2
Argie's Wife Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Alton Posts: 1,908 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 533 Thanked 579 Times in 260 Posts	Taxes went up very little last year. The town's budget was level-funded and the school's budget was BELOW the previous year's budget. I'd wager both groups are going to try to do the same; it sure would beat being in a default budget. The bond on the high school is almost paid off, too. My assessment went up just a little bit - less than $2,000. Not a biggie. 2008.......2009 Town:........$3.00 ........$3.00 School:......$4.89 ........$5.19 State:........$2.14........ $2.28 County:......$1.27........$1.36 TOTAL....$11.30......$11.83 Here's the rates for some other towns around us: Pittsfield 25.78 Farmington 19.73 Barnstead 18.14 Laconia 18.04 Moultonborough 7.70 Meredith 12.14 Hampton Falls 19.27 Wolfeboro 10.61 Tilton 19.25 Alton 11.83 New Durham 20.24 Ossipee 13.90 Belmont 19.69 Gilmanton 20.98

08-11-2010, 05:29 PM	#3
Slickcraft Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Welch Island and The Taylor Community Posts: 3,291 Thanks: 1,222 Thanked 2,069 Times in 949 Posts	Alton has a full time assessor who makes relatively minor adjustments every year to keep the whole town at 100% valuation as the market moves up and down. The adjustments are made based on the prior 12 to 18 months of sales data. Normally no big jumps, no big surprises. As for your tax bill in actual $$, if your assessment went up or down about the same as the town average change and if the amount to be raised by taxes is about the same as last year then you tax bill will be about the same. It is only when your assessment goes up or down more than the average or the approved budgets are way up or down that you will see a big change in you actual bill.

08-11-2010, 06:59 PM	#5
Irrigation Guy Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Moultonborough, NH Posts: 484 Thanks: 89 Thanked 138 Times in 72 Posts	If it was 7% across the board cut in assessments then there would likely be a 7% increase in the rate unless the town have been cutting the budget by 7% too.

08-16-2010, 10:12 PM	#13
IslandRadio Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Mirror Lake - Full time resident Posts: 398 Thanks: 70 Thanked 156 Times in 61 Posts	It's very interesting.... for our place, the building went up in value slightly, and the lot went down slightly. Go figure that ! The building hasn't changed a BIT - nor has the lot! But, others structures a few houses away went down a bit - others went up. There have been 3 actual sales on our side (West side) of the peninsula within the past 12 months, so the assessors have something to go by.. Everything that was for sale on that part of the island has sold. The first one of that group sold for $300,000. Simple cottage, 1.5 story, unfinished inside, new-ish septic (about 5 years, maybe a little less); reasonable dock, etc...100 feet of frontage. The next one sold for $450,000. The house was not huge (by no means is it small - 1bout 1200 square feet of living space), and is very nicely done, inside and out. Perfect, really - needed nothing - a turn-key - move right in. Good dock, new-ish septic there, too. A couple of out-buildings. 100 feet of frontage. That assessment went up by about 20k - both land and buildings were increased. The last one was 324,000 but the house is very much in need of major work. Very good dock and deck, new-ish septic (3br, which is nice)..100 feet of frontage there too. So, the Alton assessors have some comps to work with, but they are all over the map!

08-17-2010, 06:00 AM	#14
Slickcraft Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Welch Island and The Taylor Community Posts: 3,291 Thanks: 1,222 Thanked 2,069 Times in 949 Posts	When the assessor looks at sales over the past 12 - 18 months they compare the sale price vs assessed value for each individual property and compute the difference ($S - $A). Then they look at all such sales in a class, say all island property sales, and compute the average difference between sales price and assessed value. This average difference is used in adjusting a class of properties up or down in assessment. In Alton they are also visiting each property (a once in 5 or 10 years look) to measure and look at quality and to correct any errors so this will result is some up or down movement in individual properties.

08-17-2010, 06:30 AM	#16
tis Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 6,685 Thanks: 750 Thanked 1,446 Times in 1,004 Posts	From what I have heard it sounds like Wolfeboro's new assessments are similar. The waterfront went way up and off water went down.