West Tisbury board of assessors completes triennial revaluation

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The West Tisbury board board of assessors announced that it has completed a total revaluation of all property in town, a process mandated by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) every three years for all communities in the state. The board submitted the new values to DOR for review on October 8, according to a press release from Dawn Barnes, principal assessor.

“In order to establish current market values for residential properties, sales of vacant land and improved residences were analyzed from 2012 to 2014,” the board said in a press release. “Recent sales showed that building lot values were down slightly overall. Residential values declined an average of approximately 6 percent, although individual value changes will vary plus or minus based upon location, building type, and acreage.”

The board of assessors reported that despite significant changes to the underlying tables used to project commercial and industrial values, “overall the values were relatively unchanged year over year.”

That was not true in the more expensive neighborhoods, particularly those on or near the ocean, which dropped in value.

New DOR guidelines mandated the removal of neighborhood ratings, as well as water and view influences from parcels assessed for extra acreage beyond the town’s three-acre zoning requirement.

“The new land values were correlated against the recent market sales to determine new neighborhood valuations, with all excess acreage assessed at a uniform rate regardless of location per DOR directive. The result was equitable treatment of all acreage in West Tisbury, but also a notable decline in land values on the larger parcels of land in the more expensive neighborhoods. While the value change is significant on some areas, recent sales both within the town and from adjacent communities confirm that there has been some decrease of value from these prime sections of West Tisbury, and the new assessments are required to reflect that change.”

The new values will be made public following state approval. Property owners will have a chance to review their new values prior to the final setting of the community’s tax rate, the board said.

For more information, call the assessor’s department, 9:30 am to 4 pm at 508-696-0101.