HANOVER — The town is trying to reassure worried residents that no one needs to enter their homes to conduct a townwide property assessment during a worsening pandemic.
Hanover is undertaking the state-mandated reassessment to replace the results of a much-criticized process from two years ago. Now, officials are getting out the word to residents that they do not have to allow town assessors — who are going door to door — inside their homes.
Instead, homeowners can request that the interior inspection be conducted over FaceTime or Skype video call platforms, according to Hanover officials.
“We want to let people know they have other options,” Norm Bernaiche, the town’s director of assessing, said this week. “We’re not forcing our way into anyone’s house.”
Town officials issued a statement last week to clarify the rights of property owners after residents in the Ray School neighborhood expressed alarm over postcards they received in the mail informing them that assessors “will be visiting your property” and would “ask to inspect the interior of your property.”
The state and the town reached an agreement earlier this year to undertake a full re-evaluation of properties in the town after widespread discontent over the 2018 assessment, which was derided for its uneven results.
The 2018 valuation led to scores of lawsuits, nearly two dozen appeals to the State’s Board of Tax and Land Appeals and more than 400 rebates to property owners — and the “retirement” of the town’s former chief assessor.
Normally, Hanover, like all towns mandated in the state, undertakes a “statistical” reassessment every five years based upon home sales data, followed by a full townwide reassessment every 10 years that requires assessors to inspect properties to collect data used to determine property values for tax purposes.
The full reassessment underway in Hanover is expected to be completed in July, and new assessments will apply to the second half of the 2021 tax bill and be applicable into 2026, Bernaiche said.
To date, about 700 property inspections have been conducted out of 2,600, and officials were happy with their progress.
Still, assessors’ door-to-door visits during the pandemic’s national surge is unsettling some residents.
“I’m not psyched about someone coming into my home at this time,” said Jennifer Voelker, who lives on Pinneo Hill Road, after she received a postcard last week. “We don’t have repairmen or even friends and family coming in.”
Voelker suggested that the virtual inspection over video chat should be the default, rather than being something property owners have to request.
“Going house to house inside people’s homes when COVID numbers are up in our Upper Valley community creates a loophole that can cause further spread,” she said.
Bernaiche said interior inspections are preferred in order to ensure collection of the “best data” for determining assessment values.
He noted that assessors are wearing masks and remaining at a 6-foot distance when engaging home owners and requesting interior access.
So far, about 50 homeowners have requested to have the interior inspections done via video, which typically involves the homeowner using a smartphone camera to conduct a guided tour.
Once data on all properties is collected, the town submits the information to Vision Government Solutions, the contractor that will set the evaluations. Those property values are then submitted to the state’s Department of Revenue Administration, which will set the town tax rate for the tax bills that go out next October or November.
Hanover Town Manager Julia Griffin said the town has “resolved nearly all” the lawsuits related to the 2018 reassessment, most notably the lawsuit filed by Dartmouth College, which alleged the town over-assessed the value of 38 of the college’s 122 taxable properties in Hanover.
Contact John Lippman at jlippman@vnews.com.
