Town of Manchester revaluation preliminary assessment notices to be sent.

The Town of Manchester and Vision Appraisal Technology will send preliminary assessment notices of the new assessments for the revaluation date of October 1, 2006 this week.

The notices will contain the previous estimated full market value and previous 70% assessed value as of the last revaluation date, October 1, 2000, as well as the current full market value and current 70% assessed value as of October 1, 2006, the effective date of the current revaluation.

The Board of Directors authorized these new assessments to be phased-in over a period of three years, and the new assessments will be used to calculate the tax bills mailed in June 2007.  For more infor-

mation on the phase-in of the revaluation, taxpayers are urged to contact the Town of Manchester Office of Assessment and Collection at (860) 647-3016, (860) 647-3017, (860) 647-3012 or (860) 647-3112.  Property owners are asked not to contact Vision Appraisal Technologies with questions specifically related to the phase-in, as the phase-in is not related to the valuation of the properties.

The notices will contain information for property owners who wish to appeal their new assessments.  The first step in the appeal process is an informal hearing with Vision Appraisal Technology. Property owners wishing to schedule an informal hearing must call the toll free number listed in the assessment notice (1-888-844-4300) to schedule an appeal.  Property owners are asked not to contact the Town of Manchester to schedule an informal hearing.  Informal hearings must be scheduled through Vision Appraisal Technologies.

Property owners who wish to appeal their assessments after the informal hearings may file an appeal with the Board of Assessment Appeals.  Board of Assessment Appeals applications must be filed by February 20, 2007.  Property owners are not required to attend an informal hearing in order to file an appeal with the Board of Assessment Appeals.

In addition to the notices sent to taxpayers, the assessment data will be listed online.  Property owners who wish to do research on their new assessment and compare it to similar properties or recently sold properties may do so online at www.visionappraisal.com or www.townofmanchester.org.   For property owners who do not have Internet access or who would rather perform their research at Town Hall, the Town of Manchester Office of Assessment and Collection is available to assist in research.  The Office is located at the Manchester Town Hall at 41 Center Street, and the office is open week- days from 8:20AM until 4:40PM.

This current revaluation was completed without the need to visit individual properties, in accordance with state law.  The next revaluation in 2011 will require individual property inspections.

Property owners are reminded that the process of revaluation is limited solely to the determination of the value of your property and is not intended to provide you with the ability to calculate your next property tax bill which is due in July of 2007.  That is a function of determining the value of the entire Grand List for the Town which will be completed in January, 2007, as well as establishing the mill rate, which will be done by the Board of Directors as part of the budgetary process in May of 2007.

However, most property owners should expect to see an increase in their assessment since market values have increased over the past six years, particularly for residential properties.  In many instances, the increase in value is significant and will result in an increase in the tax bill for that property.