Portsmouth To Hold Taxpayers' Forum On Property Assessments

PORTSMOUTH, NH — The Portsmouth City Council will hold a meeting on Wednesday to address new assessed property values citywide. Reassessment of all city properties is being undertaken this year, and as demand continues to be high, many property values have increased. Before the final reassessed property values are set in stone, property owners will have a chance to comment on the proposed changes during the taxpayers' forum taking place Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the City Hall.

This will be the second taxpayers' forum before the final reassessed values are released next month. The goal of the reassessment is to keep the town's assessed property values in line with the properties' market values, according to city officials. The new assessed values will be reflected in the new tax rate set to be released this fall.

Preliminary reassessment results show that the value of residential land in Portsmouth has gone up by about 10 percent, according to Michael Tarello, vice president of appraisal for Vision Government Solutions, the firm conducting the reassessments for the city. On top of this, many styles of homes have gone up in value by an additional percentage, based on sales data, trends, building permits and other factors.

Apartments and homes in mixed-use buildings are the style of housing that saw the biggest increase in reassessed property values — apartment values went up by 13 percent on average, while homes in mixed-use areas went up by 14 percent. By contrast, values of two-family homes went up by 9 percent on average, and values of single-family homes went up by about 11 percent on average.

Commercial property values in Portsmouth have gone up by 4 to 10 percent, according to Tarello. Rent has generally gone up on the city's commercial properties over the past year, and the market demand for those properties remains high, he said during a meeting last month.

More information is available by contacting the Portsmouth Assessor's Office.