Reassessment briefing: county-wide reassessment effective Jan. 1, 2027, expected to raise assessments overall

Jason Cowan, the county's reassessment contractor, briefed the Board on the reassessment plan, metrics and market trends. Cowan said field discovery work has begun and the reassessment will have an effective date of Jan. 1, 2027. He described reassessment tasks (discover, list, value and tax) and said the project includes field measurements, deed research and multiple data-quality checks.

Cowan summarized market evidence from the local MLS (~1,200 sales), Federal Housing Finance Agency indices and the state ratio study. Using those sources, he said the county-wide assessment level is roughly 64 percent of market value, which would imply a roughly 30'35 percent overall increase if the county were to move the assessment level to 100 percent. Cowan cautioned that actual assessment changes will vary significantly by property class, waterfront status, house age and condition, and said the team will produce several guiding studies during the reassessment process.

On timing, Cowan said fieldwork will continue through late spring/early summer with data entry to follow and that the county will receive reports in time for the board to deliberate on tax-rate implications in 2026; he emphasized the law requires an effective date for assessments and that markets will be monitored up to the Jan. 1, 2027 effective date.

Board members asked about alternatives to the five-year reassessment cycle (two-year desk reviews with periodic fieldwork was discussed as a potential option) and about how assessment changes will translate into dollar changes on bills; Cowan recommended a two-year cycle as a feasible option for smoothing large swings.

No formal action was taken; the presentation was informational and staff said further updates will be provided as modeling and data collection continue.