Cape property revaluation complete

The Cape Elizabeth town assessor has released new property assessments for fiscal year 2012.

According to Matt Sturgis, the town assessor, overall taxable assessments have increased approximately 24 percent. A complete list of property values is available at www.capeelizabeth.com.

The new values are the culmination of a year's work reviewing home sales data and adjusting valuations to reflect most recent market values, he said. "Overall it was a very good project to be done to reconcile the imbalance that existed between neighborhoods," Sturgis said in a town press release.

Homeowners will be notified of their new assessment by letter to be mailed late last week, Sturgis said. Sturgis will meet with homeowners who have questions about their assessments beginning May 24.

This is the first town-wide revaluation undertaken since fiscal year 2004, and is an attempt to correct inequities in assessment ratios across town. According to the release, in an April 2010 memo to the Town Council, Sturgis wrote that properties in some areas of town were assessed at anywhere from 60 to 84 percent of market value. "These differentials are far too great," Sturgis wrote. "What this range, or variation between sections of town indicate are that some property owners are paying more than their fair share, while others are paying less."

As a result of the new valuation, approximately 36 percent of Cape Elizabeth homeowners will see a decrease in property taxes, 40 percent will see taxes stay the same or increase slightly, and the remaining 24-25 percent will see an increase, Sturgis said.