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Assessing News Winter-Spring 2010
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WINCHESTER ASSESSING NEWS
Winter-Spring 2010
- I am pleased to announce that Avitar Associates of New England will continue to provide Winchester with assessing services for the next 5 years. The Board of Selectmen signed another 5-year contract with Avitar at a significantly lower cost than the first 5 years now that Avitar has worked with our properties and corrected many of the issues that existed from the previous firm’s work and the 2005 revaluation. Avitar provides general assessing, data verification, and update / revaluation services to the Town.
- Data verification from 2009 has concluded. Approximately 435 homes were measured. Winchester conducts data verification on 20-25% of the buildings in town each year to ensure that the physical data for each 5-year update / revaluation is correct. Avitar has mailed letters to those properties that the assessor did not get to enter inviting the owners to make an appointment with the assessor if they choose…it is not required. Allowing the assessor to enter the building gives us the opportunity to check the interior data and find out from the owner about issues that may not be easily observed otherwise. Appointments will be taken 2/1, 2/2, and 2/3 for future visit dates.
- 2010 is Winchester’s revaluation year. This is required every 5 years by the Department of Revenue. Over the next 6 months, the assessors will be in town at various times to check the properties that will be used as sales comparables, to check all of the land parcels, and to do calculations. Avitar will extend the sales monitoring period to go through the summer to obtain as many qualified sales as possible in this low sales volume poor real estate market. When Avitar is finished, letters will be mailed to all property owners with the new values and there will be opportunities to attend hearings with Avitar on these new values.
- Reminder…applications for exemptions, credits, and for current use must be received by April 15th. Also, abatement applications for the tax year 2009 must be received by March 1st.
- The Selectmen’s Office will be recertifying all Elderly Exemptions that were filed during the year 2005. The Department of Revenue requires us to verify and refresh the Elderly Exemptions every 5 years, so we do this on a “rolling” basis 5 years out from the date of the last filing.
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