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Saco hires KRT Appraisal to revalue commercial and industrial property with April 1, 2025 effective date
Summary
Consultant KRT Appraisal outlined methods, timeline and owner notification plans for a commercial and industrial revaluation that will set values as of April 1, 2025, aiming to improve assessment equity amid rising residential values.
The Saco City Council heard a presentation Jan. 13 from Kevin Lee of KRT Appraisal about a commercial and industrial revaluation that will set new assessed values as of April 1, 2025.
The revaluation aims "to correct set disproportionate taxation by valuing all property at fair market value as of April 1, 2025," Lee said during the presentation. He told the council the company will use a mass-appraisal model to ensure consistency across property classes.
KRT told the council it will rely on the three standard appraisal approaches: the market (sales) approach, the cost approach—augmented with Marshall & Swift pricing—and, where applicable, the income approach. The firm plans to review qualified sales that occurred in Saco between April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2025, and to use 2024 income data for income-capitalization analyses.
Lee described the revaluation phases: data collection (already completed), sales review and validation, sales-analysis and model testing, a field review of commercial and industrial properties to verify data, reconciliation of approaches to value, and informal hearings for property owners. The consultant said owners will receive impact notices showing old and new values, and those who request reviews will receive final notices when values change. KRT also said it will deliver a commercial manual documenting methodology, sales analysis and valuation tables used in the revaluation.
Councilor Hatch asked several procedural questions, including the last time the city had a commercial revaluation and whether multifamily units would be treated as residential or commercial. Kate Kern, the city assessor, said she believed a comprehensive commercial revaluation had not been done in several decades. Deputy Assessor Sean McCarthy and the consultant clarified that multifamily properties with five or more units are included in the commercial/industrial revaluation; one- to four-unit residences will be handled in the separate residential revaluation.
Lee said data collectors wore assessor office identification and that KRT attempted interior inspections where possible; owners who did not admit inspectors would receive letters requesting appointments. He emphasized that qualified sales—defined as willing buyers and sellers in open-market transactions—will be the benchmark, excluding foreclosures or bank sales.
The presentation did not include any formal council action; staff said the revaluation process will proceed according to the timeline KRT outlined and that the city will host informal hearings when preliminary values are available.
The council did not vote on the revaluation during the Jan. 13 meeting, and no appeals or value changes were decided that night. The city will notify property owners before informal hearings and provide the commercial valuation manual to the public once completed.
