Letter to the editor: Rockport’s revaluation and paying for waterfront’s decreased assessments

Tue, 08/18/2015 - 3:00pm

A recent Rockport property revaluation by KRT has decreased large waterfront estates by as much as 40 percent and as a result the more modest property owner will be compelled to make up the $41 million difference in lost town assessment.

 According to the Bangor Daily News, July 22, 2015, Michael Rogers, municipal service supervisor for the Maine Bureau of Revenue Services, indicated that the sharp drop in Rockport waterfront values is an aberration and Bob Gingras of Russell/Parker Appraisal Company based in Kennebunk agreed, stating that of the 29 towns he assesses, he has not seen such a sharp difference as KRT has shown in Rockport. 

Homeowners not on the water may be feeling pretty smug with a decrease in assessments from 3 to 14 percent. However, looking at a wider town appraisal, property owners on the waterfront streets of Beauchamp Point, Calderwood Lane and Hayfield Way are seeing their assessments decrease by as much as $1 million, some as high as 40 percent, based on a cursory look through owners’ last names starting from A-G.

If the KRT assessment is accepted as valid, the selectmen will need to set a new mill rate (at least 4 percent increase) to accommodate the $41 million in lost assessment from the waterfront properties.  

Watch out, Village and West Rockport. That 4 percent decrease in your valuation is soon to be eaten up and then some. You will be paying a lot more for the waterfront estates’ windfall.

Carol Latta lives in Rockport.