Assessors to begin home inspections in Port this week

Assessors with Associated Appraisal Co. will begin to inspect houses in the City of Port Washington this week.

City Administrator Tony Brown said that nine assessors from the company will visit houses beginning Wednesday, Nov. 16.

The assessors will carry identification as well as a letter from Brown, and they will be driving red vehicles with the name of the firm on them, Brown said.

They will identify themselves to home-owners before conducting an exterior inspection of each house — a process they expect to complet next month, he said.

Property owners will be sent a questionnaire in an attempt to determine the condition of the houses, something Brown said will likely occur in December.

If there is a need to do more work at a house, a letter will be sent to homeowners in May, Brown said. That work is expected to be completed in July.

The new assessments will then be sent to homeowners in August. Open book sessions with the appraisers will be held in August or September, with the Board of Review expected to meet in October.

The reassessment is required because properties in the city are assessed at about 80% of fair market value, well below the 90% required by the state Department of Revenue.

While the city had initially planned to conduct a walk-through assessment with assessors inspecting each property inside and out, the pandemic forced officials to rethink that plan. Now, only an exterior inspection will be conducted.

While property values are expected to increase with a reassessment, it does not mean that taxes will also increase since values are expected to go up across the board.

However, people whose properties appreciate more than the average will likely see a tax hike while those whose properties increase less than the average will see a tax cut.