What is a reassessment? 

A reassessment or revaluation is when the city reviews your property and assigns a value to it based on the land, structures and local real estate market. That assessed value determines how much you will pay in annual property taxes based on the city’s mill rate, which changes annually.

How does the assessment process work? What do I need to do?

The first step is data collection. That process is happening right now. The city sent out mailers in July to collect information about your property and any changes that have been made since the last revaluation in 2021. If you’ve built an addition or if your home was damaged in a storm, you need to let the city know on that form.

Once the city has collected up-to-date information about all properties, assessors will analyze recent sales data to identify trends and establish a baseline for property values. Then the city will look at each property and determine a value based on their market analysis. New assessed values will be mailed out in the spring.

How much are values expected to change? Will I see a big increase in my property taxes?

Values are mostly expected to go up, though some people will see no change and others will see reductions. It’s too early in the process to know exactly how much values will change, according to the Portland assessor, but changes are anticipated to be less drastic than they were in 2021, when the city had gone 15 years without a revaluation.

When will I know how much my taxes will change?

When the City Council sets the property tax rate in August, homeowners can expect to receive their new tax bills by the end of the month.

If I don’t think my new valuation is fair, can I appeal it? How?

Yes, if your new valuation doesn’t seem fair, you can file an appeal with the city within 185 days. An appeal application must be filled out and sent to the city assessor’s office. At that point, an assessor may come to your house to see the property, and there will be an informal hearing process to determine a final value.

Didn’t we just go through this? Why are we doing it again?

Because of the shock from the 2021 revaluation, the City Council passed a resolution that year recommending that the city conduct property revaluations every five years to spread out the impact. The aim of revaluations is to make sure that the tax burden is evenly distributed among homeowners. If valuations are conducted more frequently, assessors say, then homeowners are more likely to see incremental changes each time, rather than a shockingly large change after more than a decade without change.