PORTSMOUTH
City Council members questioned the real estate assessor Tuesday night in the wake of complaints about Portsmouth's process.
Councilman Bill Moody Jr. asked assessor Alethia E. Bryce at a council meeting why people who own similar real estate receive different assessments.
"They want to be treated consistently," Moody said.
Moody also questioned why new construction in neighborhoods such as New Port had been assessed at less than what it had sold for.
Moody said he had a list of 19 such properties. In one case, a home sold for $465,000 but had been assessed at $324,000.
Bryce said that although homes in a community such as New Port may look identical, purchasers have the chance to select upgrades from the builder that affects the sale price.
Whether a home has a Jacuzzi, for example, would affect the sale price but not its assessment, Bryce said.
Noting complaints from some property owners, Councilman Doug Smith questioned Bryce about a chart used to set the value of parcels no larger than an acre. The chart is similar to those used in surrounding cities, Bryce said.
Her office assessed about 35,000 parcels of land this year.
Smith asked her how many appeals she had. Bryce could not say for certain but said about 200 people contact her office each year.
She encouraged residents to contact her office so that the city can get an accurate assessment.
Mayor James Holley asked Bryce if she could keep a chart for council members to see which neighborhoods in the cities had experienced "peaks and valleys" in their assessments and how many people pursued court action.
Jen McCaffery, (757) 446-2627, jen.mccaffery@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
Cook the Books
The assessor works for the City Manager. The City Manager develops the budget. The assessor makes sure the property is valued high enough to bring in the TAXES to match the budget. Amazing.
Enough Increases!!!
I wish my assessment had only gone up 7 to 9%. Again this year, my assessment in Portsmouth went up double digits....16%. So add that to the year previous and our house assessment is up over 31% since I bought it a little over a year ago. As a lifetime resident of Portsmouth, I love this city but I am absolutely feed up with the mismanagement of city funds and the taxation that is making it impossible to survive. If the current council can't do the right thing then its time for them to move on and bring in people who are ready to fight for the citizens of Portsmouth!
Expect the same.....
Portsmouth homeowners should not be surprised to see City Council and City Assessor politicizes this issue in their favor & against local homeowners. Expect more closed door meetings, grandstanding-sympathetic speeches-excuses & more requests for public patience in the news until it’s too late. The Assessment appeals process is a joke because none of the BOE members are real estate experts and/or know what’s being presented to them. An example is a question stated on BOE application which is requesting BOE members-applicants to compare HOME ASSESSMENTS PROVIDED BY THE CITY ASSESSOR INSTEAD OF ACTUAL HOME SOLD within your neighborhood at “100 percent fair market value.” So if your neighbor’s assessment is already inflated, how do homeowners expect BOE members to know the difference too? They don't since it only means they will lose budget monies that are used to finance the city's failed economic development pet projects. ITS TIME TO VOTE ALL INCUMBENTS OUT THIS MAY!
Portsmouth Assessor Alethia C. Bryce should be FIRED!!!!!!
A couple of years ago when Portsmouth was enjoying a SLIGHT real estate boom, the City Council at the request of the Assessor (Bryce) spent $100,000, thats right one hundred thousand TAX dollars for a outside company to come in and say that the assessments in Portsmouth were too low and should be raised. Well since that day, my assessment has gone up about 60% and my tax rate has only gone down a few cents. Portsmouth City Council hires consultants more than any other city I know at a cost to its citizens in the (Millions) of dollars over the last 10 years. Nobody, City Assessor, City Council, in this city wants to ever take the blame for mismanagement of funds. Alethia Bryce spent the money for the consultants BUT two years later when our properties are not selling for anywhere near assessed values...is she asking the City Council for another $100,000 to right the wrong she created. You see, in Portsmouth, it doesn't work that way. When council or the assessor Bryce make a mistake, we the citizens pay for it over and over and over. Assessor Bryce now has the nerve to be telling the citizens that we should be greatful that our assessments only went up an average of 7-9 % this year.