Ogunquit News
Ogunquit revaluation means 16 percent increase in property value
By C. Ayn Douglass
OGUNQUIT - The first townwide revaluation since 1994 has been completed by Vision Appraisal, bringing the town into compliance with the state statute that requires property values to be within a minimum of 70 percent of current real estate sales.According to Town Assessor Carolyn Flannery, Vision has come remarkably close to the value set by the state of just over $1.2 billion in the state's 2006 valuation - an increase locally of 16 percent over the previous year.
"It's interesting that equalization is just about what Vision has determined it's worth under the new evaluation," she said. "At least it shows in our case the state wasn't completely off the wall (in its evaluation of Ogunquit). We have the highest rate of increase (property values) of any waterfront community in York County. The highest rate increase has been in the last five years, where property prices increased by 206 percent."
Last year, the town budgeted $300,000 to have Vision assess property, and Real Estate Research Consultants from Andover, Mass., to assess personal property related to material used in businesses such as restaurants and motels. The process has been ongoing since last summer.
That $1,210,300,000 valuation doesn't come without a lot of sticker shock, particularly to those owning waterfront property who, Flannery said, saw their property values quadrupled. Many of those properties have been in families for generations and the owners were scheduling appointments with Vision Appraisal representatives in droves.
Flannery said Vision has meeting with property owners every 15 minutes since the new evaluations were sent out to residents. They have been at the Dunaway Center as much as eight hours a day for the last week and a half; however, Flannery estimates that only about 10 percent of Ogunquit's property owners are disputing their new property values.
According to Vision, "it's less than the rate of people that are (disputing) their evaluations in Bar Harbor and Mount Desert," Flannery said.
Flannery doesn't deny that the property revaluation will put a strain on those who receive their new tax bill on Sept. 19, which is due within 45 days of receipt.
"We have an older population in Ogunquit. The average age is 57. Regardless of what your retirement income is, when a large tax increase occurs, it's difficult and scary," she said. "You have no way to replace that money because your work years are over."
With 75 percent of property in Ogunquit owned by people from out-of-state, even the state's Circuit Breaker program will offer little relief to taxpayers. In order to qualify, property owners must be able to prove residency in Maine.
Flannery said Vision has listed and measured every property in Ogunquit although "they have not been into every property because Ogunquit is heavily owned by out-of-state residents."
The Vision software purchased by the town as part of the agreement is an advantage to the Land Use Office and Flannery herself.
"A lot of our time is taken up with real estate people, appraisers looking for property values in town, and now they will be able to look those up themselves," she said.
For those wishing to dispute their new property valuation, the first stop is Vision Appraisal. Although the last scheduled appointments ended on Tuesday, Flannery said property owners can access the Vision website at www.visionappraisal.com.
The next stop is Flannery and, finally, the Ogunquit Board of Assessment Review.
