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Assessing department reports commercial revaluation, residential data collection and GIS modernization
Summary
The assessing department told the council it completed data collection for a commercial revaluation and more than half of residential data collection, and contracted CAI Technologies to modernize GIS mapping and public-facing parcel tools.
Saco’s assessing staff briefed the council on April 28 about ongoing equalization and revaluation work, reporting progress on a commercial full revaluation, residential data collection and a multi-department GIS modernization project.
Assessing staff said they added roughly 302,000 square feet of commercial space in the past year (about a 4% increase), completed a personal-property audit that added 84 accounts and about $16,000,000 in value, and recorded roughly 4,671 exemption filings (homestead, veterans) that reduced assessed property taxes by about $1.5 million in total. The department reported a median home sale price (2024) of $546,000 and a median assessed price for single-family homes of about $420,000, and said condos accounted for 46% of newly added properties following LD 2003-related development trends.
Assessing staff said residential data collection is more than half complete and that KRT Appraisal is about three‑quarters done with commercial field work, with final reconciliations anticipated in July–August. The city has contracted with CAI Technologies to clean and centralize GIS parcel layers and deliver a new public-facing GIS viewer; assessing staff said the upgrade will allow monthly parcel updates and improved mapping for planning, code enforcement and public use.
The department’s FY26 assessing budget was presented as $291,512, a 14.21% decrease from the prior year attributed to a drop in contracted equalization services; staff noted modest increases tied to cost-of-living adjustments for personnel. The revaluation results will be reflected in tax bills once final reconciliations are complete; staff said property owners will be notified of valuation changes and will have appeal opportunities through the normal review process.
Council discussion focused on how sales and registry-of-deeds filings feed into mass-appraisal ratios and the timing of final results; assessing staff emphasized the difference between individual sales and the overall ratio used in mass appraisal.
