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1. The City of Nashua is undergoing a State-Required Revaluation for 2018.

New Hampshire law, RSA 75:8-A, requires that all cities and towns do a revaluation every 5 years. Nashua’s last revaluation was in 2013. A revaluation means all property assessments will be raised to 100% of fair market value. Since the values of many homes have increased by 25% or more since the last revaluation in 2013, this means that the property taxes on your home may go up. State law and the New Hampshire Constitution require that every municipality do a revaluation every 5 years.  

2. How will the Revaluation be done?

KRT Appraisal, expert consultants, will be doing a statistical revaluation. A statistical update which analyzes market sales throughout the entire municipality will be done to identify and implement needed value changes to the affected areas or classes of property at the municipality’s general level of assessment.  During the next several months, KRT Appraisal Staff will be visiting all properties in Nashua. This is to ensure that the assessment data used to calculate your assessment is accurate.

3. The Assessor came to my house this year for data verification and my value changed. Why?

The reason for an assessment change in a non-update year is that the data listed on your property record card may have been inaccurate. You may have made no changes to your property over the years, but the data could have been incorrect.

4. It seems the Assessor is at my house every year. Why?

Assessment values are required by the Department of Revenue Administration to be at Market Value. You could also see an assessor if you have a building permit, or if your home is flagged for ongoing construction. We are working diligently to minimize our visits to properties to help prevent inconveniences to the homeowners. We apologize in advance for any inconveniences our visits have caused. We are merely trying to ensure the data is accurate so that ALL taxpayers are assessed fairly and equitably.

5. Does this mean every property in the City is going to be visited this year?

Every property will be reviewed from the street. There may be occasions where we need to drive up a driveway at the home if visibility is obstructed from the street. KRT’s vehicles will be marked with a sign stating KRT Associates and staff will be carrying a photo ID. Because there are so many properties to review in a limited window, KRT Staff will not be stopping to engage in conversation. If you are concerned about a vehicle parked in front of your home you can call either Nashua City Hall or the Police Department to confirm if it is indeed one of our Assessors or KRT Staff.

6. How will taxpayers know if their assessment is equitable? And what can a taxpayer do if they feel their value is inaccurate?

During the month of August, we will be sending a notice of your new value to every taxpayer in Nashua. At that time the letter will indicate how and where you can review your assessment and the assessment of others. The data will be available online and taxpayers will be able to do sales comparison searches. If a taxpayer is concerned with their assessment they should use the online tools to compare their property to the sales properties. Listings of all the assessments will be available on the computer terminals at the Assessing Department. Should a taxpayer not have computer access at home, the Public Library does have computers available for this type of review and research.

The letter will also provide dates and times for you to attend informal hearings. This will allow you the opportunity to sit and discuss your assessment with a representative of KRT Appraisal. This is a good opportunity to point out any physical data errors you feel may exist or discuss why you feel your assessment is inaccurate.  If data errors exist, KRT Staff may schedule an appointment to accompany you to your home and review the data. All taxpayers that request an appointment will be scheduled at a specific time and then will receive a final notice of value at a later date. This final notice of value is the value that will be used to compute your 2018 taxes.

7. What can a taxpayer do once they receive their December tax bill, if they disagree with their 2018 assessed value?

Once the tax bill has been received the taxpayer would need to file an abatement with the Assessing Department. Forms are available at the Assessor’s Office or online at the City’s website. The State of NH Board of Tax and Land Appeals (BTLA) has the abatement form on its website as well. Once you receive your notification of your abatement and you are still dissatisfied, the next step would be to file an appeal with either the State of NH BTLA or the Superior Court.

We hope this process is a smooth one but we understand not all taxpayers will be happy with their new assessments. Both the local and state appeals processes are very fair processes that have worked for many years to ensure taxpayers are treated fairly. The Assessing Department will attempt to answer taxpayer questions or concerns, but until the values are finalized all questions should be addressed through the informal hearing process.

8. What is market value and who determines my property assessment?

Market value is determined by buyers and sellers, the real estate market and the general economy. Our current assessments were arrived at in 2013 and the market has appreciated since then. The 2017 assessments were found to be at about 79.1% of market value. For April 1, 2018 we are required to bring assessments back to 100% of market value. This will mean for most residential properties they will see their assessment increase. However, not all property appreciates or depreciates at the same rate. KRT will research and analyze the values in any particular area or neighborhood to determine the 2018 market values. In effect we are placing a value on your property that we believe is representative of what you would sell your home for on April 1, 2018.

9. When will the new values go into effect?

The new values are effective as of April 1, 2018 and will be used to calculate the December tax bill.

10. Will this process increase my property taxes?

It depends how much your property value has increased. If the total value of taxable property in the City increases as a result of the revaluation, then the tax rate will decline. Not all properties appreciate or depreciate at the same rate. For example, assume that your home is currently assessed at $200,000 but its fair market value is actually $250,000, and that commercial properties are on average selling at 95% of market value. In this example,  the commercial properties could see a tax decrease because  they were valued at 95% of market value, while your home would see an increase because it was valued at 80% of fair market value.  This is merely an example to help understand the process.

11. What will the 2018 property tax rate be so a property owner can calculate their property tax amount?

The 2018 property tax rate is calculated by the State of New Hampshire Department of Revenue and will not be available until sometime during the month of November.  The state needs a series of documents from the municipality, school district, county and state agencies, in order to calculate the tax rate and it is expected that not all documents will be available to them until the month of October. We do anticipate that with the increased property tax base for 2018 (as a result of the revaluation and real estate market), that the tax rate itself will decrease. However, we do not know how much that will be.  A decrease in the tax rate may, or may not, result in a change to property tax bill as each bill’s calculation is also dependent upon what each individual property’s revised assessment is.