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Residents upset by discrepancies in property values
NARRAGANSETT — Nina Pratt, a condominium owner on Fox Drive in Clark Farm, recently got her revaluation notice from Appraisal Resource. It valued her 1,682-square-foot unit at $508,800. Her neighbor, Gerald Reynolds, who lives in the condominium next door with an identical 1,682-square-foot floor plan, received an appraisal of $534,840. “We have condos that are cookie-cutter identical to each other and they’re valued differently, as much as $30,000 or $35,000,” Pratt said. “It’s very weird.” For Reynolds, there is no clear explanation as to why his unit is valued so much higher than Pratt’s. “I put a swimming pool in my crawl space,” joked Reynolds. “But in all seriousness, I have the same unit as about 16 others, and I’m assessed much higher. When you go back to 2003, which was the last time we were appraised, my value was exactly in line with everyone else. It just doesn’t make sense what’s going on.” The concerns raised by Reynolds and Pratt are just one example of the confusion and concerns residents have about their new revaluation notices. Towns are required to conduct a full revaluation of property every nine years and a statistical revaluation twice during that cycle. Appraisal Resource was hired to do the latest statistical revaluation, which increased values on average about 80 percent. Homeowners who disagree with their values can attend appeal hearings with the company. If they are still not satisfied, they may appeal to the Assessment Board of Review. In light of the higher values, Town Manager Maurice J. Loontjens Jr. estimated the tax rate will be reduced to between $6 and $7, down from the current rate of $10.89 per $1,000 assessed value. For most residents, that would mean a slight increase in taxes. Residents interviewed cited not just a possible increase in taxes, but also a sense that the appraised values appear to be random, with similar houses in the same neighborhood assessed differently. Jack O’Neil, a resident of Indian Trail in the North End, saw his assessed value increase 103 percent. Across the street, a house that used to be assessed $10,000 higher than O’Neil’s house is now valued $90,000 less. “I’m $90,000 more than the guy who used to be $10,000 more than me three years ago?” asked O’Neil. “He put a new roof on and I’ve done nothing. It seems there are a lot of inconsistencies.” Robert Battey, director of revaluation for Appraisal Resource, the East Greenwich company conducting the revaluation, said although his company is “good,” it isn’t perfect. “We may find a street or we may find a condo complex where we’ve been a little aggressive,” Battey said. “But there shouldn’t be any reason for identical units being differently priced.” Battey said the reason some asking prices on the real estate market are lower than their revaluations might be a fluctuation in the real estate market. “We certainly noticed a leveling off of 2005 and, in fact, you know the dramatic increase we had for the past seven years has seemingly come to a - I won’t say a reversal, but it’s certainly stabilized,” he said. “We can only deal with the actual reality of what has happened up to December 31, 2005. What happens after that is not our concern. What happens from January 1 onward will be reflected in the next statistical update three years from now.” But Battey encouraged residents to call Appraisal Resource with any questions and to attend the ongoing hearings. “If you disagree, give us a call,” he said, noting that the response in Narragansett hasn’t been far from the company’s expectations. “I don’t see where the response from Narragansett taxpayers is any different from Tiverton, East Greenwich or Barrington,” he said. Few neighborhoods were spared major increases. In Harbour Island, many homes are now valued at more than $1 million. Nancy and Bill Bivona’s house on Betty Hill Road is valued at $975,000. “There are very few homes valued under $1 million on the island now,” said Nancy Bivona. In the South End, the house at 2 Blueberry Lane increased in value from $423,000 to $730,000. Nearby, at 5 Blueberry Lane, the value increased from $297,000 to $579,000. Commercial properties also saw major increases. The Washington Trust building on Point Judith Road rose in value from $996,000 to $1.4 million. Salt Pond Shopping Center, also on Point Judith Road, increased in value from $15 million to $26 million. Point Judith Country Club jumped from $4.5 million to $7 million. The Dunes Club, at 113 Boston Neck Road, increased from $6 million to $10 million. For some residents who disagree with their new valuations, meetings with Appraisal Resource have been frustrating. “I took pictures and made spreadsheets and did a little narrative, and I met with a representative from Appraisal Resource,” O’Neil said. “He was very nice, very understanding, but he put it all in a big box. I asked him what his next step was - and he said they’ll meet and make a decision. He said he was from East Greenwich and covering for someone. I felt like I had spent all this time talking to someone who wasn’t going to have much influence in the decision.” Reynolds said that his meeting was confounding. “They had no information - we had more information than they did,” he said. “We had done a spreadsheet. They said ‘That’s interesting,’ and took our information.” Other property owners, like Town Councilman James P. Durkin, owner of Durkin Cottage Realty, said he also noticed strange spikes in some of his properties while others nearby increased in a more sensible fashion. But Durkin said there might be a number of cases where valuations that were dramatic during the revaluation three years ago will be more modest now, while smaller increases three years ago might spike this year. “I think we might be seeing a little bit of a correction,” Durkin said. “It’s like an even-ing out.” Pratt said what troubles her and other residents is that the assessed value for many properties will end up being higher than the average asking price. At the Clark Farm condos, the highest, most recent sale in the last year was $495,000 for Unit 42, which has an assessed value of $529,420. Another example is the house at 803 Boston Neck Road. Sold in 1999 for $465,500, the house jumped in value to $1.5 million three years ago. Its new valuation is $3.2 million, even though the house sold this month for just over $2 million. “The assessments are even higher than most asking prices, which is just gonzo,” Pratt said. “Completely gonzo.” |
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