Raymond residents start to receive revaluation notices

By Erin Rose

Raymond residents have started to receive notices informing them that their property’s value has changed and prompting concerns about an increased property tax burden, but town officials urge caution as the ultimate tax rate is still to be determined.

Raymond residents are receiving notices that their property's
value has changed, but town officials say the town's ultimate
tax rate has yet to be determined. PHOTO BY ED PIERCE 

The town conducted a reassessment of properties in the municipality, determining their value based on the land’s current status, including size, condition, location, and features. The valuation also considers comparable sales of nearby properties. The data is used by officials to determine the entirety of taxable property in the town and establish the tax rate, also known as the mill rate, for the upcoming fiscal year.

“People should not assume that if their property value doubled, that their taxes are going to double,” said Curt Lebel, Assessor’s Agent for Raymond. “That’s not the case. In the end, we’re going to have more than double the property value with which to distribute the property tax, which is going to move that tax rate down.”

Many residents’ assessments went up significantly, representing the change in property values in the period since the last revaluation was completed in 2005. The process of establishing a current value enables the town to redistribute the existing tax base to ensure that property owners are paying an equitable share of the overall tax burden.

“What it does is change how that tax pie is sliced, so it reapportions individual taxes according to market value,” Lebel said. “It resets equity and redistributes the tax according to the Maine constitution. It reshuffles how much of the tax burden each property is going to absorb.”

Concerned residents are encouraged to review the details provided in the letters informing them of their updated property valuation, as those details will have a significant impact on their taxes once the tax rate is established.

“We’ve asked residents to look at their property cards to make sure the information is correct, to look at their comparable neighbors to make sure they fall in line with them, and to look at the actual sales in the marketplace to be able to get a sense as to what similar properties in their area are selling for,” Lebel explained. “It’s going to be one of the drivers of their tax, so we want that value to be right. What the tax ramifications are, that will come later. The first thing to do is to say, ‘is the value reasonable given the current market and what other people are paying?’”

As a Raymond resident of 35 years, Laurie Wallace said that property values have changed significantly in the time since the last reassessment, especially after COVID-19, and the updated valuations reflect that.

“I think it is something that is long overdue, and we’re paying for that in a big way,” she said. “It’s been 20 years since the last revaluation, so of course values are going to feel significantly higher.”

While many residents fear a major increase in their property tax bill, the evaluation will not necessarily mean an increase in their annual payment. The reassessment is the first step in the process of determining each property owner’s fair share of the town’s overall tax burden.

The revaluation was done by KRT Appraisals, a Massachusetts mass appraisal firm based in Haverhill, and one that has completed such reviews in almost 30 different communities in Maine. The firm was selected through a Request for Proposal process that invites businesses to submit bids for services to be provided to the town.

“They actually worked on revaluations with Vision Appraisal in the last tax cycle,” Lebel said. “The appraiser who is doing the appraisals for Raymond this year did the appraisal work in 2005. He’s familiar and even has his materials from 20 years ago, so he didn’t come in blind. They knew the town coming in and had a good base of knowledge.”

Once KRT has finalized the valuations, expected to be completed in September, they will be issued to the town, and the Raymond Select Board will then calculate the tax rate for the 2026-2027 year. In late September, tax bills will be issued to residents, with the first payment being due on Monday, Nov. 2.

The town’s tax rate is developed though a simple calculation. The portion of the municipal budget that is funded through the payment of property taxes is divided by the town’s total taxable value, as determined by the town’s Assessors, using the revaluation data, to determine the tax rate.

“At the end, we take the total amount of the school, county and municipal budget that needs to come from property tax, and then we divide that by the total taxable value of the property,” Lebel explained. “That yields a tax rate. And then we apply that tax rate out to the individual property to arrive at their tax distribution.”

Wallace urges residents to wait for the town to establish its next budget and mill rate before attempting to calculate their new tax burden.

“I get the concern,” she said “I’m retired and living on a fixed income with my husband. And I’m not panicking yet. There is no reason to panic, and soon enough we will know for sure. If you look at the letter and the town’s website, you’ll see that they even say that this is not your taxes.

She also encourages people concerned about their new valuation to research how KRT came up with that number and make sure that the firm was accurate as to the characteristics of their property.

“KRT is making reasonable efforts to have people speak to them and work with them on those details if they feel something is wrong,” Wallace said, adding that if the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens or the size of the property is incorrect, it will impact the calculations. “It’s a calculation so the data against which they’re calculating has to be right. If you did not allow them to come in, or they came in and took the wrong notes, if there’s an error on the valuation card, it’s worth talking to them about.”

Residents can also use the KRT website to view their value summary, data, and general revaluation information, and can see the assessments of other similar properties to help compare.

“We can’t know everything about every property,” Lebel said. “If there’s things we need to know about a particular property, sometimes it’s good to have the owners come in and give us the layout of what’s going on that particular property, so we can make adjustments.”

KRT is providing opportunities for concerned residents to discuss their valuations with the firm, both over the phone and in person at the Raymond Broadcast Studio on Webb Mills Road. Informal hearings can be scheduled by following the details provided in the revaluation letter or by calling KRT at 855-228-4033 but representatives will not be able to discuss residents’ potential tax rates at those hearings.

The firm used a mass appraisal method to use data to determine the property values, instead of reviewing each property individually. The analytical tool estimates market value for a type of building, such as single-family homes “by relating sale prices to property characteristics such as square footage, age, location, condition and lot size” according to a presentation prepared by Lebel’s office. “The model is calibrated using recent verified sales … then applied uniformly across the whole population of properties.”

“I think the model that they’ve created is working really well,” Lebel said, noting that KRT communicates with the town regarding issues that residents are raising during meetings with the firm.

The town was required by state law to conduct the revaluation at this time, as property tax laws require that a town conduct a revaluation if its property assessments fall to below 70 percent of market value to ensure the tax burden is spread fairly among residents. In the 2025-2026 fiscal year, Raymond’s average assessment was in the range of low to mid 40 percent.

“The Maine constitutional requirement that all taxes be apportioned equally according to just value” Lebel said. “The legislature added standards on the statutory level. During the past few years, especially during the pandemic, the market value accelerated quite fast and the assessments didn’t change so we came out of compliance in terms of the assessment ratio.”

Raymond residents with questions are encouraged to follow the guidance in the revaluation letters mailed to each property. There is also additional information listed on the town’s website, https://www.raymondmaine.gov/pages/property-revaluation-project-1. <