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Local landowners say 2024 revaluation hit large parcels hardest; assessor explains 'highest and best use' rules
Summary
Presenters cited town data showing large vacant parcels saw far larger percentage assessment increases after KRT’s 2024 equalization; the assessor said state law requires assessments at market value and explains how 'highest and best use' and sales comps affect assessments.
A pair of Gray residents and landowners presented a data‑driven critique of the town’s 2024 midterm equalization during the council meeting on Feb. 3, arguing that the revaluation disproportionately raised assessed values for large, vacant parcels and could force landowners to sell or harvest timber to pay higher taxes.
Adam Wilkinson and Bob Coleman showed townwide analyses of about 4,900 parcels and reported that more than half of property owners experienced increases when they applied a tight threshold to separate meaningful changes. They also said vacant parcels greater than 100 acres saw average assessed‑value increases markedly higher than smaller parcels. Coleman told the council that KRT’s sales data for vacant land from April 2023–March 2024 included only five vacant‑land sales and that the post‑equalization assessed values closely tracked those few sales, which he suggested produced outsized results for hundreds of parcels.
"When you take a land owner that was paying such and such a tax bill on a sizable chunk of land and you go to $89,000 in taxes, that's cumulative," Coleman said, warning such annual changes could change ownership decisions and the town’s rural character.
Assessor Lauren Aelen responded that assessors are charged under state law and the Maine Constitution to assess property at "just value," which is interpreted as market value, and to apply "highest and best use" principles to vacant parcels. She explained that assessors commonly treat road‑front vacant parcels as containing a notional house lot and rear land because historical sales indicate buyers typically price lots that way. She said the assessor's office must balance equity across parcel types and neighborhoods and that statewide certified‑ratio rules also constrain assessment practice.
Councilors and presenters discussed policy options including encouraging participation in open‑space or tree‑growth programs, exploring mechanisms to protect large parcels (sale or donation of development rights), and engaging state legislative review. Staff noted a state‑level committee is studying taxation and equalization issues arising from recent market changes.
What’s next: Presenters urged the council to consider local policy tools to preserve large holdings and to inform the ongoing state review; the council did not take formal regulatory action at the meeting.
