The Town Of Portsmouth will compile real-estate sales thru 12/04 It will then statistically revalue all properties according to that sales information and direct input.  The appraiser has spend full days on the island recently in preparation of this.  During the first three months of 05 the values will be calculated and made public.  This is according to the Tax Assessor's Office. The tax rate per thousand will also be recalculated according to the newly derived tax base.  The new appraisals will then be multiplies by the new tax rate and the tax bills will be sent out.  As I understand it the new tax monies will be required to be sent in Sept  05.

 

Example

 

Tax Assessment on typical Narragansett Ave house

 

$200,000  X  16.50 rate = tax bill  $3,300 per year

 

Anticipated revaluation:

 

$400,000 X  16.00 rate = tax bill  $6,400 per year

 

There are houses on Narragansett now listed for $700,000 that have approx. $200,000 valuations.  Those houses have not been sold yet so they will not go into the calculation, but the trend is easy to see (and hard to swallow)

 

In a "Town Meeting" at the PIA last summer the town representative said that Portsmouth takes approx. $1,500,000 dollars in taxes and spends approx. $195,000 on island services in total

 

With the revaluation the taxes taken should approach $3,000,000 and still remain essentially unchanged at $200,000.  The exception might be the work done to Broadway.

 

The fairness of waterfront properties being taxed for more dollars is well established and probably not easily overcome.  However, the level of service of similarly taxed properties on the mainland is significantly higher.  

 

 It is therefore unfair and perhaps illegal for Portsmouth to have taken so much and denied Prudence anything near to equitable services.

 

I predict that the tax increase will harm if not overwhelm people with fixed incomes who are on the water front.

 

The time to have headed off this impact is most likely come and gone.  It would seem that the impact of increased will be the next juncture for action.

 

We will see how the reaction occurs only too soon.

 

Russ Sattler