How will my taxes change as a result of the new assessment?

The revaluation may result in an increase or decrease of individual assessments depending on how a property value increased or decreased relative to the average change in assessment. It does not mean that all property taxes will increase or decrease. Remember, assessments are only the base that is used to determine the tax burden. Although the value of your property affects your share of taxes, the actual amount you pay is determined by the budget needs of the school, town, county, and precincts. All of these taxing units decide what services they will provide in the coming year and how much money they will need to provide these services. These items are then presented to the School District Meeting, Town Meeting, Precinct Annual Meetings, and County Commissioners for approval or disapproval. Once the decision to approve a budget is made, a tax rate is set by the state that will generate the needed dollars. Your property taxes are then determined by taking your assessment, dividing by 1000, and multiplying by the tax rate. As an example, if the same amount of money is to be raised after the revaluation as the previous year and each assessment doubles, the tax rate would merely be cut in half.