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Bedford council delays townwide revaluation, citing 2024 median ratio of 91.8
Summary
After a presentation by the town assessor, the Bedford Town Council voted 7–0 to postpone the planned 2025 statistical revaluation and perform the next townwide update no sooner than the 2026 tax year.
The Bedford Town Council voted 7–0 Wednesday to postpone the townwide revaluation scheduled for the 2025 tax year and to perform the next complete townwide update no sooner than the 2026 tax year.
Assessor Doug Irvine told the council the town’s official median ratio for 2024 — the measure that compares assessed value to market sales — is 91.8 and “we could comfortably and very conservatively, very easily postpone until 2026.”
Irvine said the median ratio has remained above the 90 percent threshold that indicates assessed values are generally tracking market values closely enough to delay a full update. He told the council Bedford has sufficient sales volume and recent data across price ranges to rely on annual statistical measures until a full revaluation in 2026, if the council so chooses.
“Right now what we’re seeing is the continuation of residential price increases, but not nearly at the rate of increase that we experienced” in previous revaluation years, Irvine said. He also told the council the Department of Revenue’s official 2024 median ratio for Bedford is 91.8.
Irvine and council members discussed practical matters tied to the decision, including the staffing and organizational burden a revaluation imposes on the assessing office and the town’s obligation to maintain a deposit for future updates. The assessor said the 2025 update had been budgeted at $55,000 and the town previously paid about $45,000 for a comparable update two years earlier; he said he would ask the vendor if the 2026 price could be held.
Councilor Dave Gilbert moved the motion to postpone the revaluation “to take place no sooner than the 2026 tax year” and said the next revaluation would be a complete townwide update covering all property classes. Councilor Bill Carter seconded the motion. Chair Lori Radke called the vote and declared the motion passed, 7–0.
The council’s action moves the statutory revaluation deadline window; Irvine reminded members the state allows a maximum five-year interval between townwide revaluations. The assessor said the department will use the extra year to implement organizational recommendations from the Department of Revenue and to perform sales verifications where needed.
The council did not direct staff to perform any interim adjustments beyond routine sales verifications and statistical monitoring; the motion and the minutes record only the postponement to 2026.
