The City of Lebanon recently announced the results of its 2020 revaluation for all citywide property, as well as the adjusted 2020 tax rate of $27.05 (per thousand dollars of assessed value). Following this announcement, unforeseen adjustments to the assessed value for several city properties were made which caused the City's overall total taxable value to be reduced from $2,258,096,578 to $2,253,328,277. Since the City's tax rate is set using this number and a special formula established by State statute, the announced 2020 tax rate has been slightly adjusted from $27.05 to $27.09 (per thousand dollars of assessed value). Please note that the City portion of the tax rate will remain the same, the School portion will increase by 3 cents, and the County portion will increase by 1 cent. Learn more about the breakdown of the tax rate on our Tax Rate Explained page.
For clarity, the adjusted 2020 tax rate is $27.09 (per thousand dollars of assessed value), which is a reduction from the 2019 tax rate of $30.37.
We apologize for any confusion this may have caused and provide the following updated information to further explain the tax ramifications based on the $27.09 tax rate.
2020 City Revaluation Explained
The City of Lebanon recently completed its 2020 citywide revaluation of all real property within the city.
The last citywide revaluation was performed in 2015. Per New Hampshire RSA 75:8-a, “The assessors and/or selectmen shall appraise all real estate within the municipality so that the assessments are at full and true value at least as often as every fifth year….” The 2020 revaluation was based on an analysis of arm’s length sales that occurred in Lebanon from April 1, 2017 to April 1, 2020.
As a result of the revaluation, the total taxable value for Lebanon increased from $1,916,260,556 to $2,253,328,277, or a 17.6% increase. The increased taxable value resulted in a reduction of the 2020 tax rate to $27.09 (per thousand dollars of value) from the 2019 tax rate of $30.37.
While the total taxable value for the city increased by 17.6%, individual property values increased at various rates. This is to be expected in a revaluation. The goal of the revaluation is to develop fair and equitable assessments. Many factors affect the value of individual properties, including physical condition, age, gross living area, and amenities. Additionally, external factors can affect groups of properties, such as changes in neighborhood desirability. These factors affect the values of individual properties and result in varying degrees of appreciation rates. Some properties increased more than the 17.6% total increase for the city, while other properties realized a smaller increase.
Listed below are examples of the resulting taxes, based on a property assessed for $150,000, $250,000, $350,000, and $450,000 respectively. Since the tax rate is calculated per $1,000 of value, the assessed value is divided by 1,000. The taxes are rounded to the nearest dollar.
| Assessed Value | Tax Rate | Taxes |
|---|
| $150,000 | $27.09 | $4,064 |
| $250,000 | $27.09 | $6,773 |
| $350,000 | $27.09 | $9,482 |
| $450,000 | $27.09 | $12,191 |
Calculating Your Property Tax
Some property owners may realize a decrease in their annual taxes, while others may realize an increase. The amount of change in the taxes depends on the percentage increase between the 2020 assessment and the prior assessment of each property. To determine your 2020 taxes, you need to calculate your new assessed value, divided by 1,000, then multiply by the tax rate of $27.09. You can then compare the total taxes for 2020 to your total 2019 taxes to determine if your taxes increased or decreased.
2020 Revaluation Reports
The full revaluation of each individual property in the City has been made available for public review. The first report lists properties by location (property address) and the other lists properties by their identifying Map & Lot Numbers.
Learn more about the 2020 Lebanon Property Revaluation on our Assessing page and please call the Assessing Office at 603-448-1499 with any questions.