<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3u8pAx_1DkYgZho00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3u8pAx_1DkYgZho00" width="600" height="400" >Word that a revaluation of property values is in the works in your community is rarely a cause for excitement. And when word hits the street that new assessed values are complete and headed toward your mailbox … well, maybe you’ll put off that new car until next year. Or the year after.As anyone who’s been paying attention knows, property values across Maine and beyond have been skyrocketing, perhaps as few of us have witnessed in our lifetimes. Beginner homes that could be had for under $300,000 less than ten years ago are but a memory.The City of Saco’s assessing department has been at work for eighteen months to document and calculate updated residential property values, and ended the suspense in late June when they notified by mail owners 8,148 property owners. The reality is roughly an 18% increase in valuations, which pales in comparison to the shocker of a jump a few years ago.“The last big update was in 2023,” City Assessor Sean McCarthy told members of the City Council and those in the audience during a July 20 workshop. “We went up 35% across the city. Five to eight percent a year is quite a good clip – that’s not usual.”“As that was happening, we were putting out RFP's requesting both a complete commercial and industrial revaluation as well as a residential measure and list,” stated McCarthy via e-mail after Monday evening’s meeting. “Both of those projects took place over the course of 2024 and 2025.”The updated values were applied to commercial and industrial properties during 2026, he confirmed.As noted in the form letter sent out to property owners, the new assessment “…represents your property’s fair market value as determined by sales and cost-of-construction data…” that has been amassed since January 2025.In fact, going back even further, the assessing staff compiled information on 399 “qualified sales” that occurred in Saco between July 1, 2024 and June 31, 2025.Qualified sales are those real estate transactions that take place between a willing seller and a motivated buyer: the seller is hoping for the highest price that the house can sell for, while the buyer is hoping to pay as little as reasonably possible for the new-to-them home. A sale from a parent to offspring, for instance, or a conveyance of a sliver of land to a neighbor so that a new shed can be built would not be viewed as a “qualified sale.”“We do what’s called ‘mass appraisal,’” explained McCarthy to the council. “You may have noticed that at no time did I pull comps for this, at no time did I get in and really drill down and determine what makes a property unique. That’s not what this is.”Anticipating a fair level of public interest in the newly assessed values, McCarthy and Deputy Assessor Kate Kern established an on-line system for taxpayers to set up a meeting time for a face-to-face discussion with staff members. Phone calls were also welcomed, and will continue to be accepted.Through the July 20 meeting date, 38 meetings had been completed and 124 had been scheduled, so that all on-line scheduling slots had been filled. In addition, 235 phone calls had been received from those wanting to know more about their assessment, and an unknown number of walk-ins had filed through the assessing office.“We have been seeing an average yearly increase in property values of about 5-8%,” McCarthy shared via e-mail. “These recent valuation changes are an attempt to keep up with those market conditions, maintaining equitable assessments between properties across the City and providing full State exemption amounts to residents.McCarthy explained during the meeting that the market continues to outperform, leading to increased sales costs and the realization that updating assessments across the board had become necessary.“A lot of people have asked, why’d you bother to do anything at all?” he said to the council. “You could have just left it, you weren’t below the 70% (minimum threshold established by the state).”He confirmed that the city-wide valuation on residential properties has been at about 77% of market value; with the updates determined and delivered to owners, that percentage has increased to 91% of market, which is “… the minimum to still be able to offer full value on exemptions like the Homestead Exemption or the Veteran's Exemption, according to state statutes,” he told the council.If the city had stayed the course and allowed the 77% valuation to remain in place, it would have felt the sting of fiscal impacts imposed by the state, said McCarthy.“We would lose about $277,000 in state reimbursement for exemptions, so everyone’s home (value) starts going down, and we would lose about $145,000 in personal property taxes,” he said.Factoring to a lower ratio, he continued, would cost the city directly, resulting in the need to raise taxes in order to replace revenue from the state.“It’s worth noting that (the city) went from 77% with a 14 quality rating to 91% with a 5 quality rating,” which in assessor-speak means his department has done its job.Councilors appeared to accept the message that McCarthy delivered.He confirmed that there is no discount offered to homeowners in the historic district when asked by Councilor Tricia Huot. Councilor Doug Edwards wondered whether another valuation update could be expected within five years, as opposed to a full decade.“It would be my personal preference to make smaller adjustments every year,” rather than waiting five or even ten years, replied McCarthy. Staff’s use of Vision Appraisal software and MS Excel allow that to occur, a quantum leap over the tools that were available as recently as thirty years ago.Councilor Nathan Johnston asked about a corresponding reduction in the mil rate that could offset the increase in property values to some degree. City Administrator Ryan Pelletier voiced hope that such information may be available by the August 3 council meeting.Bob Hamblen is a freelance writer from Saco. He can be reached at rhh0918@gmail.com.</div></body>

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Word that a revaluation of property values is in the works in your community is rarely a cause for excitement. And when word hits the street that new assessed values are complete and headed toward your mailbox … well, maybe you’ll put off that new car until next year. Or the year after.

Saco property values on the rise

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Word that a revaluation of property values is in the works in your community is rarely a cause for excitement. And when word hits the street that new asses

Saco property values on the rise

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