Kurt Labelle: Raymond revaluation nearing completion; values due late July, hearings in August

Kurt Labelle, the town assessor, told Raymond selectmen that the town’s long-awaited property revaluation is nearing its final stages and that KRT Appraisal will likely release new assessed values to the public in late July or early August.

Labelle said the revaluation is a mass-appraisal exercise to bring assessments into statutory compliance and to redistribute the existing tax burden fairly across properties, not to raise the town’s total tax revenue. “The revaluations are essentially revenue neutral,” he said.

Why it matters: Raymond’s assessment-to-sale ratio has fallen far below the state minimum and must be corrected. Labelle told the board that the town’s assessment ratio dropped from about 90% in 2018–19 to roughly 45% during the pandemic-era market surge; Maine’s statutory minimum is 70 percent. That gap is why a concentrated adjustment is expected now, and why some homeowners could see materially different assessments when the new values are published.

What Labelle explained: He walked the board through how the tax rate is computed—total property tax requirement divided by total taxable value—and gave current-year figures to illustrate the math: municipal, school and county budgets required $20,801,000 to be raised on roughly $1.1 billion of taxable value in the sample year, producing an $18.80 rate that is applied uniformly across town. Labelle emphasized that changes in assessed value redistribute the existing tax pie; if overall taxable value rises uniformly, the mill rate falls so total tax revenue remains what voters and budgets require.

How the work was done and what remains: KRT collected sales and field data, conducted more than 750 callback appointments and obtained interior information for about half the town’s properties; about 1,300 properties were measured from the outside because no one was home. Sales modeling and field reviews were reported about 80% complete. Commercial modeling remained in progress. Labelle said the firm will host online copies of property record cards and will schedule hearings (in-person and by phone) for taxpayers to review and challenge individual values; hearings are expected to begin around Aug. 8–10 and run through the month.

Numbers and examples Labelle used: he showed four sales that illustrated the spread in assessment-to-sale ratios (examples ranged roughly from the mid-30s percent to the high 50s percent), and explained that properties below the median are likely to see increases while some above the median could see decreases when the assessments are equalized.

Next steps and timing: Labelle said KRT will turn final values over to the town about the first week of September. The Selectmen are scheduled to review tax-rate options and issue assessments at the Selectmen meeting on Sept. 15. Town staff urged residents to make appointments to review values because the assessor’s office and KRT will be handling heavy demand.

Quotes that stood out: Labelle began the update saying, “we expect we’ll probably be ready to release values to the public within the next two to three weeks.” He added later, “It’s been 21 years since the last reevaluation,” and cautioned residents not to “freak out” by applying the current mill rate to new values because that will produce misleading figures.

What the town advised taxpayers to do: wait for the official letters with new valuations, review the KRT-hosted property record cards, and if errors appear schedule a hearing with KRT; Labelle stressed that KRT’s responsibility is to value properties, not to compute each taxpayer’s final tax bill. The town expects to finalize tax-rate options after Labor Day and to issue assessments in mid-September.

The Selectmen thanked Labelle for the briefing and requested copies of the slides and supporting materials for board review.