Augusta officials are preparing for a full revaluation of property values in the city, which could impact tax bills for every lot.

It’s been a long time coming: Augusta’s last revaluation was completed in 2006, and property tax valuations sit at 56% of market value. Residential properties especially have increased in market value, and the city plans to update its valuations over the next several months to re-balance tax burden.

Why does Augusta need to update property valuations?

The Maine Constitution requires that real estate, for the purposes of property taxes, must be “assessed equally according to the just value thereof.” In other words, the tax burden of a property should reflect its market value.

Since Augusta’s last revaluation in 2006, real estate values have skyrocketed. Now, Augusta’s valuations are so out of sync with the state’s expectations that Homestead Exemptions are being partially withheld.

City officials signed a contract January 2025 with KRT Appraisal, a Massachusetts-based assessing firm, to complete a revaluation. KRT Appraisal will study all property sales from April 1, 2024, through March 31, 2026, to come up with an accurate view of real estate value in the city.

Will my property taxes go up?

Not necessarily. A revaluation rebalances values so that properties share the tax burden fairly — it does not hike taxes automatically.

In a presentation in January, KRT Appraisal Project Supervisor Kevin Leen said Augusta’s residential properties were valued at less than half of market value on average, while commercial and industrial properties were much closer. So, in Augusta, tax burden will shift to residential, rather than commercial and industrial properties.

That doesn’t mean that property taxes will go up — Augusta will only raise enough in taxes as it needs to fund its approved budget.

With more value to pull property taxes from, the tax rate will likely go down, City Assessor Kristy Sheehan said in the presentation.

When should I notice changes?

City, county and school officials are in the beginning stages of building their next budgets, and a tax rate won’t be finalized until this summer.

Sooner than that, though, assessors with KRT Appraisal may be looking around in your neighborhood, at the exterior of your house or business. Field reviewers will not be knocking on doors — they’ll only check the outside of buildings to make sure their property value analysis is consistently applied across the city.

Then, this summer, you should receive a notice of how your valuation was impacted by the reassessment, and KRT’s staff will be available to answer questions both in-person at Augusta City Hall or over the phone.